A Past Retold
by Namikaze Kakashi
Summary: Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto becomes the Rokudaime Hokage during the war, but what use is it to be Hokage if Konohagakure was burnt to the ground with all the villagers still inside? Kurama makes a huge sacrifice and Naruto finds herself in the past, determined to set things right and not allow her counterpart to live through the hardships she did. Fem!Naruto possible eventual Kaka/Naru
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Naruto

Edit May 2015 : Mostly grammar and spelling. If there are more mistakes please let me know. Thanks

* * *

**Prologue - A past retold**

The battle field was littered with corpses, leaving hardly enough space for a foot on solid ground.

Naruto looked around, tears freely running down her face. She and Kurama were completely depleted of chakra, but she charged Madara anyway. It was a futile attempt, but she wouldn't just give up. If there was even the smallest hope for a victory she would grab it with both hands. As expected, she was flung aside like a bothersome fly.

Madara already had control of seven of the bijuu... and he was half way with number eight.

Bee's mouth was open in a silent scream as his tailed beast was ripped from his body. Naruto's heart couldn't take the pain anymore. Bee and Gyuuki were like family to her, closer even... seeing them both in so much pain... it was too much to bear.

"Kit... We have to do something. I refuse to be sealed to that red eyed bastard."

Naruto was struggling to stand up, trying to wipe the blood out of her eyes and mouth. Her long golden hair was caked in blood and mud, no longer tied up in its usual neat high pony tail... There were even chunks missing from various katon and fuuton jutsu's she'd gotten caught in. Her clothes were torn, her ninja sandals were missing...

"Kurama, you know as much as I that it's hopeless... He is simply too strong." Naruto whispered, "Just look at the pain Octo-pops is in.." her breath hitched , "That's going to be us in a few minutes..."

Her legs couldn't bear her weight any more, exhaustion was setting in... She fell down to her knees just as Bee's Body landed face first into the mud.

It was over, there was no hope left.

She was the only person still breathing other than Madara.

The Uchiha was now walking toward her, a crazy grin on his face and a victorious glint in his eyes. He knew that he had won.

Weakly she tried to move backward, struggling in all the mud she fell backwards. The soggy ground softened the landing, splattering everywhere.

It was hopeless

SMACK

"**Bullshit!"** The mighty fox growled, standing to his full height in her mind-scape. It took Naruto a second to realize Kurama had whipped her across the face with one of his tails.

"**Since when are you the type to give up kit?" **he shouted at her, pacing up and down. ** "I thought it was against your Nindo? What kind of weakling have you become willowing in self-pity like this?"** Everything about the mighty beast's posture indicated his irritation. His tails were twitching, his teeth bared.

_"Kurama... if you have any ideas as to how we could survive this and still save the world from his rule then I am all ears."_

Naruto was sitting in the usual ankle deep water, hugging her knees, tears still trailing down her face... Everything she had ever fought for was gone... Every person she had ever cared for was dead.

It was over... she had lost.

**"There is a way to stop this... but yet it would still have happened... It is hard to explain"** Kurama's facial features were marred by a frown. His jailor was not even listening to him… the nerve. The fox was suddenly still, a serious look in his eyes as he looked at his host, if he did this, there would be a serious price to pay.

As annoyed as the fox was at the blond female for not listening to him, he still felt sorry for his kit... and he was enraged that his brothers and sisters were enslaved. Kurama flat out refused to share the same fate. With a sigh he squared his shoulders to prepare himself for what was to come.

His host was still in a pitiful position, hugging herself for comfort. He had seen that picture too often when she was younger. He would change this no matter what. He was the strongest of his siblings anyway.

He was going to save them all.

"**Hold on Naruto..." **He mumbled, but he doubted that she had heard a word he had said...** "So much for being all ears..."** he thought with a little annoyance. Here he was, making this brilliant sacrifice and she wasn't even listening to his speech.

He started with the hand seals for the technique. It was surprisingly short for such a powerful technique...

He called the techniques name, felt himself get ripped in half … and passed out.

It was done.

* * *

On the battlefield, Madara had just taken hold of Naruto's hair. He forced her head back and placed his palm on her forehead. Naruto growled at him with her red eyes narrowed.

"Wouldn't let your friends die ne?" he smirked "Good job."

"Bastard" Naruto sneered and spat at his face. Saliva mixed with blood ran down the man's cheek. With a disgusted grunt the Uchiha tugged her hair with enough force to rip some more chunks out.

Naruto closed her eyes and hissed with pain. A new tear ran down her cheek as she waited for death. As much as it irked her, she had no more strength to fight. As much as she hated the fact that she could no longer fight back or do anything to defend herself, one could not simply summon energy from nowhere. Even sage chakra would be of no use, everything was dead... there was nothing left to draw the chakra out of. She could no longer protect her precious people, they were all gone.

Suddenly she felt herself get ripped backward, a blinding pain seared all through her body, and she passed out.

* * *

Kakashi was standing in front of the memorial stone like he usually did. Lost in the memories of his old team and all of the other familiar names engraved on the stone.

A gentle breeze caused the blades of green grass to sway slightly. The silver hair of the jounin also shifted slightly as the wind seemed to play with the individual strands. It wasn't a silent scene, but it was peaceful.

He had already been standing there for about an hour and he would probably stand there for an hour longer. There was nowhere particularly important that he had to be, not that it really mattered, he wouldn't show up anyway.

Suddenly there was a shift in the atmosphere. A heavy presence shattered the peace that was drifting around just moments before. He had felt it once before, on a day he wished to forget more than any other.

It was close…Did something happen to his sensei's legacy?

Before he could move there was a loud bang, not unlike dozens of explosion notes going of simultaneously, yet it had the same feeling as the way lightning causes thunder by the rapid expansion of air.

It came from the direction of the training posts. He turned his head to look, his posture completely on guard, sharingan exposed, kunai in each hand... If this was what he feared, there would be no holding back.

Both eyes widened as the lone man took in what he was seeing. There, right in front of the stumps, a crater had formed... but that was not the strange part. The crater was created when a girl suddenly appeared out of thin air about twenty feet off the ground and slammed into the earth with a force that could not be explained by normal means. She hit the ground so hard it was forced to ripple outward... it was an even bigger crater than the great Tsunade-sama could create with one of her chakra enhanced punches.

Kakashi approached the scene cautiously as the dust settled, keeping on full alert. The heavy presence seemed to have disappeared for the moment but one could never be too sure with foxes.

He was sure ANBU would be here soon, but it was his duty to check it out first.

The girl was in the middle of the crater, limbs twisted in awkward angles. Kakashi guessed her age to be in the early to mid-twenties. She was wearing Ninja attire, similar to what every Konoha Kunoichi wore during the war. A Konoha forehead protector gleamed proudly in the sun from her right forearm...

"_Wait... Konoha?_" Kakashi's mental study of the female was interrupted by confusion. He had never seen the girl before and he was quite sure he had seen all of Konoha's ninja at some point. Was she a comrade? Or was she a spy? It would be a good ploy... sending an injured female.

She seemed to be completely unconscious.

He approached her position, hyper alert of his surroundings. This could very well be a trap... but how had the enemies gotten inside the barrier?

He checked her vitals... She wasn't breathing, heartbeat failing, completely covered in blood. Whether she was a spy or not, she was going to die if he didn't do something. She could be worth some information even if she was a spy...

Kakashi quickly attempted first aid but it wasn't working. The girl was still not breathing.

Where were the ANBU?

Kakashi clicked his tongue in irritation. He couldn't waste any more time, her heart had stopped completely. He slung his prisoner over his shoulder and preformed a couple of shunshin to reach the hospital.

There was no time to think about an explanation. The female in his arms required medical attention ASAP.

"_Please let me make it in time..._" The silver haired Jounin found himself thinking desperately. He was not about to let a possible comrade die in his arms.

He could finally see the hospital. He pulsed his chakra to let them know he was coming with an emergency... no more than 40 seconds could have passed since he started his journey but he was completely out of breath and chakra... shunshin was definitely not meant to be used so many times consecutively... over such a big distance.

He rushed through the double doors.

"Kunoichi, affiliation unknown, seriously injured, no pulse, first aid attempted and failed" Kakashi relayed the important information as calmly as possible, handing the woman to the first med-nin that reached him.

A hospital bed seemed to appear out of nowhere and within 5 seconds they were wheeling the kunoichi down the corridor, two med-nins standing on the railings, green healing chakra already working on the girls heart and lungs.

An ANBU with a Cat mask moved forward, now standing next to Kakashi...

"What happened, Senpai?"

"That's what I'd like to know..." Kakashi replied with a sigh. This was way too much

* * *

A.N.

**Hey guys, this is my first time writing a fanfiction... Please review, I would like to know what you think and all :)**

**Regards**

**Namikaze Kakashi**


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Naruto

**A past retold - Chapter 1**

* * *

Naruto slowly woke up. It took her a while to realize she was in her mind-scape. Her brain seemed to be working extra slow...

What was going on?

"**Finally awake brat?"**

"Kurama?"

Naruto was lying eagle spread in the water of her mind-scape. She turned her head to look at her fried, the one she shared a body with...

"You look small."

"**Excuse me?"**

"Did you shrink, Kurama?"

The fox snarled. **"You are trying my patience brat..."**

Kurama was growling at her... he hadn't done that in a while...

"Are you ok?"

"**...No... urg, just listen up kit... what do you remember?"**

"Well..." Naruto started flashing through memories... they got worse as time went on... she was crying again... she never cried... just comes to show how bad the things that she remembered were...

"Dead"... she whimpered, her blue eyes wide. "They are all... dead". Then she turned her blue, heartbroken gaze toward her partner, fear evident in the orbs that used to host so much joy and mischief. Now they simply seemed defeated.

"Why aren't we dead?... wait...we are aren't we?" her breath hitched and she looked away. "What a sucky afterlife... a sewer"

"**You aren't dead idiot, and nor am I. I managed to get us a second chance..."**

Kurama really looked smaller than usual... Naruto walked up to him, climbed onto his head and sat down... then started scratching his ears. It was something she had always wanted to try...

"**Would you stop distracting me and just listen?"**

"I am listening Kurama, go for it."

Kurama couldn't help but think of the last time his host was "all ears"... yeah right

"**We aren't dead."**

"I don't see how that's possible.."

"**Would you just SIT STILL and SHUT UP!?"**

"... OK, gees... no need to shout" Naruto replied, slightly surprised at the irritated fox... should he be irritated if he was dead? Although it certainly was a thing worth being irritated about...

The giant fox seemed to need to get is thoughts in order. He shifted his weight around and mover his tails into a more comfortable position before he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He lowered his head onto his front paws.

"**I have sent us into the past."**

The blond girl currently residing atop his head stilled.

"Don't joke about the impossible Kurama. I am not in the mood for a prank like this."

"**It's not a prank."**

"It's not possible and you know it."

"**It may not be possible for you fur-less monkeys, but it is possible for us greater beings."** The fox replied with something akin to a smirk on his furry features.

"Explain." Naruto asked, still slowly scratching behind the greatest of the bijuu's ears.

"**I'll explain it in a way your primitive mind can understand." **The beast started, wincing a bit as said primitive being pulled at some sensitive hairs by his ears, but widening his smirk.

"**I performed a jutsu that can only be performed by a bijuu. In essence, I sacrificed half my chakra in order to perform it. In return for I, and therefore you, were sent back in time seven years. However, as I mentioned before, this is a bijuu technique. Not meant to be performed by humans. And therefore there was a side affect. In order to send you back in time, you aged the amount of years that we travelled back... " **The fox opened one eye to try see his hosts' reaction **" Also, this is not your past, but one that is similar enough." **He added, but he doubted that the blond heard the last part.

"That means that I am in the past... I can make sure that everyone is ready... I can...wait... seven years? Are you telling me that I am..." The blond used her fingers a bit for the simple math but eventually she reached the answer. "TWENTY-FOUR!"

* * *

"Oh kami no..." was all Naruto could think as she woke up. Of course, the skilled jōnin

sensor would be able to tell, but to the average outside viewer, there was no change in her breathing, no twitch of her eyelids. It was a skill necessary for all shinobi to master, one could never be to sure where you woke up. There was the off chance that you had been captured by an enemy, in which case you had to be fully aware of the situation and able to think up an escape strategy in seconds.

Naruto however, knew that her situation was a lot worse... She was unmistakably … in an hospital.

Even without her keen sense of smell, she would have been able to detect the strange mixture of scents that hung around any hospital. The linger of blood, both old and fresh. The unmistakable stench of death and decay. The unholy amounts of caffeine that the staff consume constantly. The disgusting smell of hospital food...

Naruto, like most shinobi, hated the hospital. Being confined to a bed, stuck in a plain white room and not being able to do anything about your situation but wait it out... It was hell.

The blond thought about what she had just learned from Kurama. She was in the past... She could stop the war before it began...

Naruto opened her eyes and looked at the white ceiling. The past... such a big concept. She tried to sit up but realised that she was restrained to her bed.

"What the..."

"**Think about it brat, you appeared from no where, in the middle of a ninja village... of course they are going to see you as a threat."**

"Huh, I guess you're right..." The kunoichi replied, trying to get in a more comfortable position without straining her restrictions.

As Naruto was coming to terms with the big change and the huge weight now on her shoulders, a nurse walked in. She was reading something on her clipboard and only looked up once she was in front of Naruto's bed. Her eyes widened when she realised her patient was awake.

"Good morning Miss, how are you feeling?" she asked, rushing over to check the machines next to Naruto's bed.

"Good enough thanx... could you please tell me the date?"

The nurse responded, then ran off to go get the doctor.

Her past self should be ten now...Naruto calculated.

After a few minutes the doctor arrived. He checked her over and informed her that she would be fine but had to rest for two more weeks.

As the doctor left, the Hokage walked in.

Naruto's eyes widened.

"Jiji..." She whispered... She couldn't stop a tear from running down the side of her face... He was alive again... alive and healthy. Solid proof that she was truly in the past. He looked the same as she remembered him, wearing his Hokage robes and hat. She couldn't be happier to see the old man. She remembered his death, his funeral... it would happen differently this time around.

The Sandaime watched the play of emotions across the strange girl's face. He knew that she was no Konoha shinobi but she was showing a lot of emotions for a spy. He closed the door behind him.

"Good morning." he greeted the girl. Taking a seat at the side of her bed. She looked at him with tear filled eyes.

"Hi." She replied, a small, sad smile on her lips. She seemed to be studying his face quite intently.

"My name is Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato." He introduced himself. Perhaps the girl had confused him with someone else to look at him with so much familiarity.

"I know." She replied, grinning so wide it threatened to split her face.

"Who are you?" he asked. It may be that he had met the girl before... it was possible that he forgot... he was getting on in years... but she was definitely not one of his shinobi. Perhaps he had met her on a mission? That didn't explain the hitai-ate though...

"First, may I ask that you remove your guards?" She asked, letting her eyes drift to the various places that his ANBU were hiding.

She was skilled, not many would be able to detect them when they were making an effort to hide.

"Why would I leave myself unprotected? You may know who I am, but I have no idea whatsoever who you are."

"Jiji..." The girl said again, her smile fading... like she was hurt that he didn't know who she was. Then she moved her gaze to the ceiling and spoke in a soft voice. "There are many trees in the forest, and each tree has many leaves. A tree can not live without its leaves, just as a forest does not exist without it's trees."

The Sandaime couldn't believe what he was hearing. This code was devised years ago, and under the strictest of security levels. Not even his advisers knew about it...

The girl closed her eyes and seemed to tense a bit as if she were in pain. "However, a tree still loses its leaves in winter, and a forest becomes like a graveyard..." The mysterious girl continued, a fresh tear now running past her cheek and her voice a little unstable.

"But when the spring returns, so does the fire of life, burning strong in the new green leaves." She finished, turning her gaze back at him. It was a simple code, but that was also what made it powerful.

Suddenly Hiruzen flicked his fingers for the guards to leave. He stood up and placed security and privacy seals all over the room. Even if the girl was a bit of a threat, he was the Hokage, he could protect himself, he didn't really need the guards.

"Where did you learn that code" He asked harshly. "Who are you?"

The girl smiled sadly again. "My name is Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto, Rokudaime Hokage of Konohagakure no sato. Daughter of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina."

The third fell back in his seat, completely shocked and confused.

"What?"

The girl chuckled at his expression, "I was born in Konoha ten years ago, according to the year the nurse gave me just now." she said. "I grew up and orphan and eventually graduated dead last from the academy..."

"But..." He tried to interrupt, but the girl gave him a pointed look

"I am only going to explain this once old man, you can ask questions later." She stated rather harshly.

He nodded his head once and she continued.

"I was placed in a genin team with Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. Top boy and girl of my year. We were placed under Hatake Kakashi as team seven."

Naruto told him everything. She explained the Rookie Nine as they became known, and the Konoha Twelve. She told him about Sasuke and how he betrayed Konoha. She mentioned to him how Tsunade became the Godaime Hokage. She spoke about Kyuubi and how his name was Kurama. She informed him that there would be a forth great ninja war, and she described to him how completely and utterly they had lost everything. How she had become Hokage, and how Konoha was burnt to the ground, with all her citizens still inside.

"I failed as a Hokage... I couldn't keep the will of fire alive. But I came back to make sure that it does not happen again."

"How did you come back though? Time travel is not possible."

"Kurama explained it to me in simple terms, I was never the smart type, but I will try explain it to you as best I can." The blond fidgeted a bit and eventually turned her gaze back to the ceiling, a frown on her brow.

"The basics of space-time ninjutsu applies here... I know you know how it works, my dad told me you helped him with Hiraishin... So you know that stepping back is impossible, however, stepping sideways is not quite so hard to do. It requires some rule bending though... technically I have not moved backward in time, but rather sideways, to an alternate path that could have happened... So I'm in the past, but not completely my own past... I think" she explained. The girl seemed to be getting confused as she went on...

"Apparently there will be something here that is different from where I came from, but the rest should be the same. It is not exactly a well known technique... Kurama just knew how to do it coz' his dad spoke of it once... well, not really dad... I guess you know him as the Sage of the Six paths... anyway...the point is I am here. Also, the jutsu aged me the same amount of years that I moved "back" as a payment of sort... people are not meant to do this, it's sort of a fail safe so that people do not travel back too far I guess... Also, Kurama sacrificed his Yin chakra." She finished rather lamely.

She turned her gaze to the Sandaime again, a serious look in her eyes. "Look I know I can't explain it properly, and that you probably don't believe me... but I can do the rasengan and I completed it. I would show you but," She looked at her restraints with distaste. "I can't. I do however have something else that might help. It was destroyed at one point but I put it back together. Look at my necklace, you should recognise it."

The Sandaime studied the girl intently. It was true that she did look a great deal like Minato, with his ice blue eyes and golden hair. Her hair was still quite matted with dirt and dried blood but he could see some blond where the nurses tried to clean it. She also had a lot of Kushina in her with the way she talked and the shape of her face.

Her story was too complicated for a spy, they usually have easy and believable stories, those that won't attract attention.

She also knew way too much about the secrets of Konoha... things that only the Hokage should know.

He wanted to believe her... but time travel was a big pill to swallow. He stood up and moved toward her bed. He looked into her eyes again. She did not seem to be lying... her expression was much too open for that. Then he tugged at the string around her neck and looked at the pendant around it. The aged Hokage felt his eyes widen. There was no mistaking that it had once been Tsunade's necklace, the Shodai's charm, but it was not in the state that he had last seen it. There were cracks all throughout the green gem, and it seemed to be sticking together with a small seal that was placed on one of the shards.

The Sandaime moved his fingers into the appropriate seals and released her constraints with a soft "Kai".

The girl, Naruto, smiled at him and sat up, stretching her muscles.

"Thanx Jiji! Now I just need to find out what's different around here!"

"Oh I think I can help you there, Rokudaime." He replied

"Really?" She asked, bouncing in her bed. "How could you know what's different from my time and yours? You have not seen my time." She stated, looking a bit confused.

Sarutobi smiled, "Uzumaki Naruto" He started with a twinkle in his eyes, "is a boy." He said, watching the complete dumbstruck look on the time travellers face. He couldn't help but chuckle a bit as she came to terms with

"I'm a boy?" The Rokudaime eventually asked, her face still showing complete disbelief.

"Your counter part is a boy my dear, you are still very much female." Hiruzen stated, once again puffing on his ever present pipe.

"A boy huh?" The blond repeated again, but this time with a small grin. "I wonder how much that will affect our team dynamics..." she said, her grin growing wider.

Hiruzen frowned.

"They are not your team, Naruto-chan. They are Naruto-kun's team." he said slowly, a little worry in his voice.

"I know that Jiji, but we are the same person are we not?"

"No Naruto-chan, you are going to have to make your own life here, not live Naruto-kun's for him." Hiruzen replied, his frown deepening.

"I won't live his life for him, Sandaime. I am simply interested how Sasuke-teme is going to tie in with Naruto-kun." Naruto stated.

The Sandaime was worried about how Naruto was going to cope with the fact that her friends from the past were not their counter parts, but simply ten year old brats still attending the academy. He would have a talk about it with her later though, for now they had more important things to discuss.

"Naruto-chan" Hiruzen started after a while. "We are going to need to start working on your cover identity. I say cover here but in reality this is going to be your actual identity from now on, you will never be Uzumaki Naruto again."

"Yeah I know. I have a few ideas on that too." The blond replied with an ever present smile.

* * *

It had been three days since Naruto woke up in the hospital, and nearly two weeks since she arrived in Konoha. Currently the time traveller was walking around Konoha, buying supplies for her new apartment. She was Uzumaki Natsumi, long lost sister of Uzumaki Kushina. She kept her surname, as it gave her a good excuse to get close to her counter part, and Uzumaki was a lot easier to explain than Namikaze. She had also turned her hair the Uzumaki-red by placing a small seal at the base of her neck. It was a lot more effective than dye or henge, it was permanent, and it made her look all the more like an Uzumaki. The fact that she was basically the splitting image of her mother also helped her guise.

Her story was simple. She had escaped the destruction of Uzushiogakure just like her sister, but in the confusion of the falling of the village and the fleeing of so many others, they had lost each other and believed each other dead. It was by pure coincidence that Jiraiya of the sannin found her, a simple wondering orphan, on one of his travels. He had then brought her back to Konoha a few days before Naruto's birth and on the night of the boy's birth, Namikaze Minato had split the Kyuubi's chakra between his son and his wife's younger sister.

After this she had left the village in order train in using the kyuubi's chakra without endangering the village. Her status as a jinchuuriki was also kept a secret for her safety. The fact that the villagers found out about Naruto and not her was explained by the fact that no one knew she existed, she had only been in town a few days, and had left straight after the destruction that the demon fox caused. Also, the fact that Konoha had two jinchuuriki would have caused a power imbalance between the five great nations and Konoha simply could not deal with the threat of war after a bijuu attack.

The new red head was wearing a standard black Konoha jōnin pants taped at the bottom with standard white tape and on her feet she wore standard black shinobi sandals. She wore a burnt-orange tank top over her fishnet style chain mail vest that could be seen extending half way down her left arm. She also wore black fingerless gloves with sturdy metal plates on the back of her hands. Over all of this she wore the standard Konoha jōnin vest. The lower half of her face was covered with a black scarf to hide her whiskered cheeks and her hair was done in her usual neat, high pony tail. Her hitai-ate was proudly displayed on her forehead. She wanted to wear her allied nations hitai-ate on her right shoulder, but it would simply cause too many dangerous questions to arise.

She still had to come to terms with suddenly being seven years older. Her hips were wider and her bust bigger. Her facial features were also a bit sharper and all the baby fat gone. Her hair had grown as well. It had brushed the back of her calves once she had gotten the time to wash all the blood and gore out of it, but she cut it back to waist length. As much as it reminded her of her mother's long hair, it simply was not practical. She was also a bit taller than she remembered being. All in all it took some getting used to. She used to have a bit of a boyish figure, with hardly any curves. Suddenly having them was a bit uncomfortable, but she liked it.

The villagers and Ninja were still very much unaware of who and what she was, there would be a council meeting later to inform the council members . There would, however, be no announcement of who or what she was to the public. Both Natsumi and the Sandaime agreed that it would be best for her to just fall in with the workings of the village in order to attract less attention to her. The higher ranking shinobi would of course be informed of who she was in term of Uzumaki and her status as a host would only be known to a select few of the elite, but it would be declared an S-rank secret just like Naruto was supposed to be.

Being unknown was quite different for Natsumi. She walked around the village doing as she pleased and no one looked at her with the admiration they would bestow on their Hokage, nor did they look at her with those hate filled eyes as they used to before she had proven herself. Shopping was actually turning out to be quite enjoyable at this rate. The last time she had been able to simply walk around in a village was before Jiraiya had died. After that there had been the training with the toads, the Pain attack... the war. In fact, all the hidden villages had been destroyed in the war.

Natsumi closed her eyes and took a deep, slow breath through her nose, a small smile on her lips as the tasted the scents in the air and took in the sounds that came along with a village. She could smell various scents around her; the smell of sweat from the hard working civilians producing their products for sale, the slight hint of perfume from a council-woman nearby, the amazing flavours of the food produced in the various stalls that could be found around her. She could hear villages walking around at a relaxed pace, running errands and engaging in conversation with one another, their voices friendly and their tones relaxed. Slightly further away she could hear some young children playing in a nearby park, their innocent laughter ringing like small bells in the distance, the patter of their feet still so uncoordinated and slightly ungraceful as they ran around engaged in some game that captivated their imagination. She could practically feel peace floating around the place, but the dark undertone of a ninja village was ever-present, a reminder that many people that lived here were trained to kill.

Along with the scents and sounds of the civilian lifestyle she could smell and hear the shinobi influence in the background. The almost unnoticeable footfalls of the shadows leaping across the rooftops causing a slight displacement in the air, the clash of a kunai somewhere in a training ground and the distinctive sound of a sensei lecturing his genin subordinates as they carried out some D-rank mission that they obviously believed was not worth their time. She could fragrance of the "scentless" soap that shinobi used to reduce their natural scent, the whiff of well oiled weapons, the slight tang of blood and sweat spilled by the silent protectors every day as they perfected their arts.

Natsumi's smile widened until it threatened splitting her face in two, the sheer joy she felt from experiencing the simple lifestyle of Konoha without the threat of war was overwhelming. This was her home, it was whole again and she was not going to let it fall from it's peaceful state.

The Time traveller continued her shopping for an hour or so more, then she created a clone to deliver her purchases back to her apartment and started heading toward the Hokage tower. She still had some things to discuss with the ageing, current Hokage.

She walked into his office the way she always used to, a big smile on her face and a slight bounce to her step, the secretary desperately trying to apologise to the Sandaime. Truly it was quite nostalgic.

"Jiji!" She greeted the professor, the man known as 'The God of Shinobi'.

"Ah" The ageing legend exclaimed, looking at the future Rokudaime Hokage over his piles of paperwork, a small smile on his features and a barely audible sigh of relief. He finally found a good reason to take a break from the mind numbing paper work. "Natsumi-chan".

A few minutes later they were both seated with tea and cookies provided by the secretary. All ANBU now stationed outside the the office instead of inside and with privacy seals in place they were finally ready to discuss some more important matters.

"Natsumi-chan," Hiruzen started, looking at the young woman in question, now blowing the steam off of her tea, her red scarf lowered around her neck, her whiskers clearly visible. "We should discuss how we are going to go about this. I will subtly bring up the fact that Naruto-kun is not the only jinchuuriki Konoha has in the meeting later today. After that you must be prepared for the uprising that surely will follow."

Natsumi crinkled her nose at the idea of the meeting, Hiruzen shared her distaste as it would most likely be a tedious affair involving a lot of arguments and headaches.

"On to other matters," the Hokage continued, bringing his own tea to his lips, taking a small sip. "We will need to bring more people into this secret for it to work, we can not change the future on our own without a lot of people getting suspicious."

"Yeah... I guess." Natsumi allowed, her eyes wondering around the office. "We should probably tell Ero-sennin and Tsunade-baa-chan..."

"May I suggest Nara Shikaku as well?"

"Shikamaru's dad?" The time traveller asked, raising one dainty red eyebrow.

"Indeed," Sarutobi stated, nodding his head in thought. "I do not believe we would be able to hide this from him for very long, and his strategic mind would be a great help."

"Hmm, ok... I would like to tell Naruto-kun as well, once he is old enough and all... when he becomes chuunin or something..."

"Are you sure that is wise?"

"He has been lied to enough already." The Uzumaki declared, her eyes suddenly narrowed in a way that reminded Sarutobi a lot of her father.

"Very well," Sarutobi allowed. "But lets leave it until he needs to know, or until he becomes a jōnin."

"Fine. But since we are on the topic now I think we should discuss Naruto-kun." The blond-turned-redhead was suddenly very serious.

"What would you like to discuss exactly?" Hiruzen asked as he sipped his tea.

"I am going to adopt him." She stated, iron in her voice.

"I will see what I can do but..." Sarutobi began...

"No buts! I will not have Naruto-kun grow up the way I did..."

"Now now Natsumi-chan, I know he has a difficult childhood but the council will not allow one jinchuuriki to adopt another, especially since you are not well known, they may think that you will influence the boy's loyalty..."

" I don't give a damn what the council thinks, Sandaime-sama...he isn't having a "difficult" childhood... he is living in hell at the moment! And I will be informing him about his parents.."

"Natsumi that will only put him in danger..."

"More than he is at the moment?" the kunoichi asked, her glare strong enough to make the God of shinobi back off. "Do you have any idea what is going through his head every day?" She asked, but carried on without allowing for an answer. "He has no idea why the village hates him, but he puts a smile on his face in any case. He doesn't know why the instructors at the academy always kicks him out, or why the kids his own age won't associate with him. He doesn't think anybody cares about him at all and he is quite nearly completely right." She held up her hand to stop the old man from interfering. "Sure, you talk to him more than the average person Sandaime, but every time you do even you can not stop the shadow from crossing your face every time he reminds you of Minato or Kushina... And every single time he asks you about his parents you cannot help but lower your head in shame, and tell him they died during the attack. Do you know how many times I thought you were simply lying to me? That you just didn't want to tell me that my parents hated me just like everyone else!?" Natsumi yelled. The silence that followed her outburst was quite nearly deafening before she controlled herself enough to continue in a level tone. "He deserves to know exactly what happened that night. He deserves to know exactly who his parents were. I'll make sure that he understands the implications, and that he does not spread the information."

There was another moment of silence.

"Alright, but I request that you do not yet inform him about Minato's status as the Yondaime until he has graduated."

"Fine" The kunoichi uttered as she tried to get her emotions under control. They had been all over the place since she had traveled back in time.

"It will take some time for me to arrange all of this, I ask that you do not approach Naruto-kun until I have spoken to the council."

* * *

Natsumi walked out of the office a few hours later, having cleared up a few more details about the future and how they were going to handle things. The next step was to wait until the Hokage had that meeting with the council.

The red head took a deep breath, wondering what she was going to do now. Going for a bowl of ramen at Ichiraku sounded like a really good idea.

As she walked the familiar rout to one of her favourite places in Konoha when she heard the Academy bell ring, signalling the end of classes. The time traveler simply could not help herself, she had to go see everybody.

Natsumi quickly hid herself in one of the trees surrounding the academy and waited.

A few seconds later the doors opened and children came gushing out, ecstatic about their new found freedom, it didn't take long before Natsumi could see some familiar faces in the crowd, running and laughing.

Sakura's pink hair stood out. Her hair was growing out past her shoulders, her frame skinny and her eye's sparkling as she looked at a young boy with raven hair. Ino was also there, just as skinny as Sakura, squealing something at the same boy. Sasuke was glaring at the world, closely followed by a horde of fan-girls which, of course, included both Sakura and Ino Kiba was running around with Akamaru, who was so tiny he had trouble not tripping over his o1wn paws. Then there was Shikamaru strolling out last, hands in his pockets, looking at the sky. Chouji accompanied his best friend, munching chips as he went. Hinata was at the back, eyes looking at the floor as she walked to the branch member there to pick her up today. Shino was also there, blending in with the crowd. The very last person to walk out was a young boy with shocking golden hair spiked in every direction. He was small for his age, his shorts and t-shirt crumpled and dirty. He was looking back into the building, screaming something about stupid academy instructors.

Natsumi took in the whole scene... but it was all wrong. These were not her friends. These children were not the hardened and scared Ninjas that stood by her side as she fought a war. These were not the people that had acknowledged her, encouraged her, shared a bowl of ramen with her...taken a kunai for her... these children were nothing but … children.

Then it hit her. She was alone. She may be here, where everyone was alive. But they were not her precious people. They were dead, and nothing could change that. She was the only one who was still alive. She would never again hear her Shikamaru mutter "troublesome" … She would never again share a packet of chips with Chouji or have a heated argument with Kiba. ..Sakura would never again hit her head when she was being stupid... Her and Sasuke would never again be the rivals they once were, the best friends they became...

Natsumi fled the scene just as tears were beginning to build up in her blue orbs, but she did not let them fall. She was not really paying attention where she was going, but before she knew it she was standing in front of the memorial stone in a very familiar training ground, looking at the list of hero's carved into the black marble. There were a lot less names than she remembered and a lot more open space available to still be filled. She fell to her knees in despair as the first tears escaped her eyes and started to dampen her scarf. Her eyes were wide and almost fearful as she took in the sight before her and the solidarity of her situation sunk in. She buried her face in her hands and wept. Their names may not have been carved in the stone,but they were all still dead.

After a few hours the time traveling kunoichi was still hunched in front of the black stone, her face still covered by her hands even though her tears had long since dried. Slowly she moved to her feet, rubbing her eyes with her palms, her lips formed in a grim line behind her bright red scarf. She raised her head and moved her hands away from her face, pure determination evident in her sharp blue gaze as she stared once more at the open space on the marble monument. It was at this time that she swore, this time, their names would not be taking up the spaces available.

* * *

**A.N.**

**Ok guys, done for now, please let me know what you thing, constructive criticism is very welcome :)**

**Namikaze Kakashi**


	3. Chapter 3

**I do not own Naruto.**

**A Past Retold: Chapter 2**

* * *

It was early morning in the land of fire, and the sun was just starting to peak over the tall walls surrounding the magnificent village hidden in the leaves. The Hokage mountain was bathed in its golden light as the birds started chirping and the villagers started stirring. A sliver of sunlight also entered a dingy apartment window, falling on a head of messy golden locks peaking out from under a thick blanket. The bundle beneath it stirred slightly, emitting soft snoring sounds.

The room was a mess. There was dirty laundry spread out all over the floor, a surprising amount of it in various shades of orange. Empty instant ramen cups were littered around the apartment on almost every surface the place had to offer, on the floor, on the kitchen table, in the sink... even on the bed where the lump was still gently moving up and down accompanied with peaceful breathing noises. One could even spot more that a few cockroaches scurrying around, over and under the mayhem that was the floor.

Suddenly there was a ear-splitting ring as an alarm went off somewhere in the confines of chaotic living space. The blond bundle stirred again before a small child-sized hand wormed itself out from under the covers and blindly started feeling around for the source of the commotion. It started it's search slowly and clumsy at first, but as the annoying sound kept blaring through the apartment, the hand got more and more frustrated, moving faster and flinging garbage around before the bundle it hailed from suddenly lunged and a small boy escaped from the warm burrow he had constructed through his sleep.

His hair was a mess of sharp golden spikes, his face rounded by baby fat. The boy's chubby cheeks had three whisker-like lines on each of them, giving him a fox-like appearance. His cerulean eyes were narrowed with annoyance but still quite dull with sleep. The child fumbled around a bit before finding the noise emitting device and in an almost aggressive manner, switched it off.

Naruto yawned and stretched, trying to rid his mind of the sleep that was still clouding his thoughts. He had been having such a nice sleep before that stupid alarm had gone off and ruined it all.

Slowly he got to his feet and started trudging through the ankle deep mayhem on his floor towards his small fridge, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his small hands as he went. He was wearing an overly large old brown T-shirt that came to about his knees and had some holes in it. It was so stretched out that the neck of his shirt fell over one of his shoulders.

Finally he reached his destination, after some curses and stumbling that came from stepping on something sharp or particularly gooey. He opened his small fridge , grabbed the milk and drank a few gulps straight from the carton. Then he had a quick shower, hunted around for something suitable and orange to wear, and headed out to the academy.

* * *

It was still quite early but most people were already out and going about their normal morning routines. Ninjas were training or heading out for an early start on a mission, villagers were setting up stalls and rushing to their places of employment. Some house wives were already flapping their dusting cloths out various windows as they went about their cleaning.

Naruto walked with his usual wide grin on his face, eyes squinted and almost shut so that he wouldn't see the angry glares thrown at him. He really did not understand what the deal was with everybody or what he had done that was so wrong... It was also not worth the trouble to ask someone, their glares would simply intensify, like him not knowing was even worse than whatever he did. Some people had even spat at him, growled at him, shouted at him and very often thrown things at him. Therefore instead of paying attention to their hateful eyes, he simply ignored it. One day he would be Hokage and they would all look at him with those kind eyes and smiles as they did when they saw the old man. He would even make a rule that people were not allowed to be so mean to other people.

A few hours later, Naruto was slouching in his seat, with his palm cupping his cheek and his elbow resting on his desk His eyes were drifting shut, bored out of his mind with the dull facts that Iruka-sensei was lecturing about. Like really, why did he have to know the origins of the shuriken? As long as he knew how to throw the metallic stars at his targets, he was sorted in that department. Knowing where the stuff came from was just useless information that he did not need to fill his brain with. Why couldn't they just learn how to kick ass? That was much more useful.

The bored blond peaked through his one half open eye, looking around at his class mates. Shikamaru was snoring a few seats away from him without a care in the world. Chouji was seated next to his sleeping friend, slowly munching away at a bag of chips, his eyes dull. The amount of time it was taking him to open them after every blink was slowly but steadily increasing.

Kiba was having a deep discussion with Akamaru, not paying even a shred of attention to the lecture. Hinata was quietly sitting near the back of the class, not really standing out at all. Ino was staring dreamily at Sasuke who was sitting a few seats in front of her. The bastard himself was just brooding about something, most likely not hearing a word about what was going on either. Sakura was dutifully taking notes, but shooting hopeful glances at Sasuke every few seconds. Shino was blending in with the background near the back of the class...

Everybody was bored out of their minds, no doubt about it. Kids were simply not meant to sit still for such a long amount of time.

Suddenly there was a spark in the infamous prankster's open eye. A mischievous grin slowly making its way across his features.

Quickly wiping any trace of his devious thinking from his face, Naruto raised his hand.

"Yes, Naruto?" Iruka-sensei stopped his lecture, looking up from the text book in his hand.

"May I please go to the bathroom, Sensei?" The blond asked, his voice the sound of pure innocence. Really this should have tipped the scar nosed teacher off. Nevertheless, he gave the blond permission and continued boring his class half to death. There really was no way to enhance a shuriken history lecture, but it had to be taught. The teacher was rather bored himself in fact.

A few moments later there was a commotion down the hallway.

"What the...?" Iruka thought as he heard some of his colleges arguing down the hall and the sound of a lot of things falling and a cat yowling. The spiky haired chuunin instructor sighed and placed his text book on his desk.

"Ok class," He announced. "Self study until I return. If I so much as hear a peep out of this room while I am away it will mean detention."

There was a chorus of "Hai"'s from his more diligent students, while a few of the others stirred slightly in their sleep. He gave another mighty sigh and closed the door behind him.

As soon as the man left, Naruto tumbled in through the window, some twigs and leaves stuck in his hair, his clothes in a more rumpled state as they were before. All of the awake students watched as he snuck over to the teacher's desk in the front of the class, tinkered around with some of the drawers, and then made his way back to the window, crackling madly as he went.

"Naruto!" Sakura screamed. Her high pitched voice rudely waking the napping students, much to their displeasure. "What do you thing you are doing?"

"Well, it's his fault for giving such a boring lecture, Sakura-chan." The blond replied, giving the pink haired girl a bright smile as he climbed back out the window and onto the tree branch he had used to get there.

There was a slight creak in the branch, causing the escaping prankster to lose his footing, and after swinging his arms helplessly, he tumbled to the ground, a muffled yelp and thud signalled his landing a few seconds later.

The whole class chuckled at his misfortune. Even the ever brooding last Uchiha had a smirk on his face as he said "Dobe" softly.

A few moments later Iruka returned holding Naruto by the scruff of his neck.

"Naruto!" he exclaimed "Detention for a week! How did you even get Tora into the building? Do you have any idea how much damage that demonic cat caused?"

"Sensei!" The accused blond screamed as he tried to escape the hold the man had on his neck.

"Who said I let the damned cat in? You have absolutely no proof! Innocent until proven guilty DATTEBAYO!"

The scarred chuunin actually growled at the blond. "I will find proof Naruto... Mark my words..."

As soon as the man released his student the child lumbered to his seat, rubbing his neck, a slight limp evident from his previous fall.

"Why are you covered in twigs and dirt anyway Naruto?" Iruka asked, holding the base of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, his eyes closed.

"Uh...I fell." The blond replied, scratching the back of his head.

"I thought you went to the bathroom." The instructor countered, crossing his arms.

"I did. I ...Uh... fell in the bathroom, ... slid on the floor and flew out the window. It was quite amazing Sensei, you should have seen it."

Iruka just sighed again and headed toward his desk, his hand reaching out to open a drawer.

"IRUKA-SENSEI STOP! NARUTO MESSED WITH YOUR DESK!" Sakura yelled, standing up and pointing at the aforementioned blond. "He sneaked in here through the window when you were out!"

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto looked at the pink haired girl with anime tears running down his whiskered cheeks. "You ruined it! My brilliant plan all ruined"

"Seriously Dobe, if you wanted your plan to work you shouldn't have done it in front of the whole class." Sasuke smirked

"SHUT UP, TEME!"

Once again the class was filled with chuckling students. Iruka carefully opened his drawers and discovered a simple trap involving smoke bombs. _"Not a very good trap at all"_he thought as he easily disabled everything._ "Not up to his usual standard."_

* * *

An hour or so later the class had settled down and the previously napping students resumed their comfortable napping positions. Iruka was seated at his desk, marking some assignments. The diligent students had started doing some homework.

A certain blond suddenly grinned, his eyes lit up. Shikamaru was looking at the prankster with a frown on his brow, this would most likely end up being troublesome.

Naruto placed his hands in a seal and silently whispered _"kai!"_

Suddenly there was a flash and a bang. Iruka jumped up and attached himself to the roof, kunai in hand, looking for the enemy after his chair seemed to explode. A few girls shrieked at the shock of it all.

A loud crackling laughter filled the room as the dust cleared. Naruto was rolling on the ground laughing, gripping his sides. This was all just too good. The prank had finally come together.

"NARUTO!" Iruka-sensei yelled, his face red with rage. "DETENTION FOR A MONTH!"

Tears were running down the laughing prankster's face as he finally pulled himself up to look over his desk.

"You fell for it!" he yelled as he continued laughing. A couple of his classmates laughing as well, a few looking scandalized. Shikamaru just smirked a bit before going back to his nap.

"HA HA! I knew Sakura-chan would snitch on me, so I made it _look_ like my prank involved your desk when I actually attached a flash tag to the bottom of your chair." Naruto explained, wiping the tears of laughter from his face. "Oh that was so worth a month of detention..." The blond continued, ignoring the warning look from Shikamaru. "HAHA! You should have seen your face Sensei!"

"Well Naruto," Iruka said, standing up from his perch on the ceiling, before allowing himself to fall down to the ground gracefully, doing a casual flip in mid air, landing gently on his feet and placing the kunai back in his thigh holster. "If one month of detention isn't enough, how about three?"

"NANI?!"

Truly Iruka was slightly impressed that the blond actually though ahead and planned for his class mate to snitch on him. Even if she had not it would still have worked. Add to that the fact that Iruka still had no idea how the young troublemaker managed to get the demon cat in the school to cause the distraction. The cat was regularly causing genin teams trouble.

"Please see me after class so that we can discuss your detention." the instructor said and returned to his desk to face the bane of all teachers existence... marking assignments.

Naruto just hung his head. He wasn't really that mad, the prank had actually gotten him some attention, and the whole class was laughing this time. Honestly, it was almost worth all three month's worth of detention. Maybe he could even get Iruka to teach him some advanced ass kicking techniques as he carried out his detention every day.

* * *

A few weeks later Naruto was busy dusting down one of the classrooms of the academy and Iruka was supervising him, marking some assignments at the same time.

"Ne Ne, Iruka-sensei?" The blond suddenly spoke up after a full two minutes of being silent.

"Yes, Naruto?" Iruka replied, not looking up from his work.

"Could you teach me a new kick ass jutsu? I'm almost done with the day's cleaning and..."

"Naruto" Iruka interrupted him, "I can't teach you anything before you fully understand the basics."

"I understand the basics!"

"No, you don't." The instructor countered, still not looking up from his work.

Naruto was getting annoyed at the chuunin. "How would you know?" The blond yelled, waving his feather duster in the instructors direction.

"I know, Naruto, because I am the person responsible for testing you on the basics, and based on this weeks assignment, you clearly do not understand the basics" The man looked up from his work, showing Naruto his failing grade on the assignment he had just recently marked.

"That doesn't count."

Iruka raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And why not?"

"It's history." The blue eyed trouble maker replied.

"And?" At this point Iruka had put his marking pen down and was resting his chin on his interlaced fingers.

"It's not important." The blond replied with a shrug, going back to his dusting.

"History may be the most important subject of them all Naruto." Iruka said softly, his head tilted to the side. "The whole point is to learn of past mistakes, draw strength from previous heroes ... understand why we are even doing what we are."

Naruto just shrugged his shoulders and continued with his task. Iruka just sighed silently and started marking again, it was clear the boy simply did not understand the importance of the past.

A few moments later an ANBU appeared in the class, startling Naruto enough to tumble off the chair he had been balancing on to dust the higher shelves of the class' bookcase.

"ANBU-san, how may I help you?" Iruka asked the silent killer. The trained assassin turned his white crow masked face toward the man.

"I am here to deliver a message to Uzumaki Naruto." The crow masked figure replied. The figure had a deep voice, hinting toward being a male underneath the dark cloak and mask.

"Eeeh? What you want with me?" Naruto asked, getting to his feet, cursing the chair as he did so.

"Hokage-sama requires your presents in his office at once."

Within seconds Naruto was out the door, accompanied by the ANBU officer.

"Later Iruka-Sensei!: The blond called over his shoulder. Absolutely elated at getting out of detention. He did not even have to make up some elaborate excuse this time. "I can't have the Hokage waiting for me now can I?"

Iruka just sighed once again, shaking his head slightly... That boy would be the death of him one day.

* * *

"Ne Ne, Crow-san" The hyperactive kyuubi container addressed the silent ANBU officer. "What does Jiji want with me?"

"I do not know, Uzumaki-san" The man remotely replied.

"Why not?"

"I was not informed."

"Weren't you curious?" Naruto asked, holding his hands behind his head as he walked, looking at the ANBU from the corner of his eyes.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Knowing why Hokage-sama does things is none of my business, Uzumaki-san." The ANBU's voice was starting to get a sharper edge to it with every passing question the blue eyed boy asked.

By the time the pair reached the Hokage tower, Crow was quite close to strangling his charge. The annoying brat would simply not shut up. For the whole fifteen minute walk from the academy to the tower, the boy had been babbling non-stop. A man could only take so much before he is driven to the edge. ANBU were not used to being talked to, or being expected to talk back. They lived in silence , communicated without a sound and even that was rare. The poor ANBU officer was seconds away from starting to pull his own hair out the brat was so annoying.

The moment they arrived at the Hokage's office the man politely introduced the blond, excused himself and disappeared from sight to revel in the beauty of silence.

* * *

"Jiji!" Naruto greeted the old village ruler.

"Good afternoon, Naruto." The ageing man greeted him back with a smile. The man was silently chuckling at Crow's behaviour. That specific ANBU was usually so patient and hard to anger... Naruto genuinely had a gift for getting under peoples skin, or a curse, depending on how one looks at it. It could definitely be a great weapon one day.

"I hear you have been causing trouble at school once again, my boy." The Sandaime told the blond as he put away some of the more important documents on his desk. This meeting would require all of his attention.

"Not trouble, Jiji," The blond explained as he moved closer to the old man's desk. "I have just been making class a bit more exciting." The whiskered boy continued with a cheeky smile on his face. "It's Iruka-sensei that caused the trouble. If class wasn't so boring, I wouldn't have to make it better, dattebayo"

The Hokage chuckled at the boy's answer. "So what have you been studying recently that is so boring, Naruto-kun?" He asked as he laced his fingers in front of his face, is elbows resting on his paper covered desk. Hopefully the pages his elbows were leaving imprints on were not too terribly important.

The young trouble maker made a face of disgust and muttered a single word. "History."

Hiruzen could not help but laugh a little at his answer. "But my boy, history is probably one of the most important subjects you can learn."

"Why? It's boring and all the people we learn about is already dead." Naruto looked away, crossing his arms.

"The best way to learn something, or get better at something is to make mistakes and learn from them. Like if you use a kunai for the first time and cut your hand, you learn to hold the kunai properly next time, right?" The old professor started lecturing.

"Jiji," The blond sighed like the whole conversation was just too troublesome for him to pay proper attention. "I am too awesome to cut myself with a kunai."

"That is not the point, my boy... You learnt how to hold the kunai from a book or an instructor, correct? Well, if someone had not made the mistakes first, learnt from them... and then written a book about it, you would have cut your hands to shreds by now."

"Hai, hai." The blond replied, waving his one hand in an almost dismissal.

The Hokage sighed and shook his head a little. "Very well then Naruto, I did not call you here to talk about your school work." The village leader sat back and took a long drag from his pipe, releasing the fumes a few seconds later.

"I am going to tell you about your parents."

* * *

The blond froze, his eyes widened. "M-my parents?"

"Aah, but first, I must introduce you to someone. Due to certain circumstances, she was forced to leave the village the day you were born, and I could not tell you about her for her own safety." The Hokage explained before raising his voice slightly. "Natsumi-chan, you can come in now."

The office door opened to reveal a woman with dark red hair and bright blue eyes, the exact shade of Naruto's own eyes.

Naruto looked at the woman with open curiosity. She looked like a normal jōnin, the lower half of her face hidden by a black scarf.

The young Kyuubi host then turned back to the Sandaime "What does she have to do with my parents, old man. You told me they were dead." He asked, his voice clearly showing his displeasure at being interrupted.

"Just a moment, Naruto-kun." The old man replied before addressing the jōnin. "If you would be so kind as to seal the room, my dear."

The red head then closed the office door before placing her hand on a complicated looking seal design and placing some chakra in it. After she was done she turned back to the ageing village leader and gave a small nod in his direction, to which the man smiled before looking back at the confused boy in front of his desk.

"Naruto-kun," The Hokage started, "This is Uzumaki Natsumi. She was your mother's sister and is thereby your aunt and only living relative."

The small blond orphan's eyes widened even more than they had moments ago before he turned to look at the woman once again. He was completely frozen on the spot, his cerulean eyes glued to the only other pair of cerulean eyes in the room, his body shaking slightly.

"Hello, Naruto-kun." The woman said as she moved further into the room, her voice slightly uneven and her eyes soft. "I am glad to finally get to meet you, nephew."

* * *

**A.N. Hey guys, hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you think, if you have any suggestions or anything. This is my first time doing something like this so any criticism is welcome.**

**Namikaze Kakashi**


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own Naruto**

**A Past Retold - Chapter 3**

* * *

"Naruto-kun," The Hokage started, "This is Uzumaki Natsumi. She was your mother's sister and is thereby your aunt and only living relative."

The small blond orphan's eyes widened even more than they had moments ago before he turned to look at the woman once again. He was completely frozen on the spot, his cerulean eyes glued to the only other pair of cerulean eyes in the room, his body shaking slightly.

"Hello, Naruto-kun." The woman said as she moved further into the room, her voice slightly uneven and her eyes soft. "I am glad to finally get to meet you, nephew."

"W-What?" Naruto stuttered. Natsumi eye smiled at him.

"You might want to sit down Naruto-kun, I'll explain everything best I can." She continued, placing a hand on the boys shoulder, only to have Naruto skirt away from her.

"I don't understand." He said with a shaky voice, tears starting to fill his eyes.

Natsumi simply let her hand fall to her side. "Naruto-kun, I just ask that you listen to my story. It is a long one, but it will explain a few things."

The young woman sat on one of the Hokage's couch and gestured for Naruto to come sit next to her.

"I was born in Uzushiogakure twenty four years ago." She started her story after Naruto refused to move from his spot. "The village Uzusiogakure was situated in the Land of the Whirlpools. It was a strong ninja village that specialized in Fuuinjutsu and our clan, the Uzumaki, was the founding clan of the village. We were known for our fuuinjutsu, vitality and red hair." The time traveller nervously played with her long red locks as she continued. The Sandaime puffing away at his pipe and listening intently to the story. Natsumi had told him about meeting both her parents at some point, but he did not know that she knew so much about her past.

"It was a beautiful place surrounded by eddies, just like the name describes. We were also quite famous for sealing the tailed beasts into human hosts, enabling the host's to use the beast's chakra. These people are known as Jinchuuriki, power of the human sacrifice, and they are incredibly powerful. Almost every hidden village has one. The beasts were divided after the Shodaime Hokage captured them all. It was a way to balance the power between the villages."

"However, because our village was so strong we were seen as a threat by the other great shinobi villages. During the second great Ninja war, Kumo, Iwa and Kiri formed a temporary alliance and attacked us. By the time our allies, Konoha, had arrived, the village was already destroyed." The Uzumaki paused a bit and took a deep breath. Naruto was still standing in the middle of the office but his posture was no longer as stiff as it had been before. He was surprised to learn that he was part of a clan that was strong enough to make three other hidden villages nervous. He was also sad to hear that his mother's village was destroyed, along with his family.

"Your mother was already in Konoha by this time, so she was safe. I had also managed to escape, but I was very young, only four. I was eventually placed in an orphanage where I grew up until one of the sannin, Jiraiya-sama, found me. He brought me to Konoha, where I met my sister for the first time in more than ten years."

"I had forgotten about her and she thought I had died during the destruction of Uzushiogakure. It was so nice to meet her, to finally have a family. I know you know what it's like to be alone. To finally meet someone who was related by blood, that unconditional love... It was incredible." She said, eye smiling again.

"She was already pregnant with you. She could not wait for you to be born... she was so excited...She told me all about how she was going to raise you and how they had decided to call you Naruto. Your father was also an amazing man. He was strong, and would do anything to protect his family." Naruto's eyes widened and a tear ran down his cheek. His mom had loved him. His parents had both wanted him... He moved over to go sit next to his supposed aunt, keeping silent as to not interrupt her story.

"Then, on the night of your birth, something horrible happened...The kyuubi attacked the village."

"To explain the attack, I must explain a bit more about my sister Kushina, your mother. She was sent to Konoha when she was young. Konoha and Uzu had always been the strongest of allies. Kushina had a special kind of chakra... She was sent here in order to become the next Kyuubi jinchuuriki, after Uzumaki Mito-sama."

"What!?" The whiskered youth demanded. "My mother had the kyuubi inside her?"

"Hai, she did. Not a lot of people knew about it though. On the 10th of October ten years ago, a man attacked her right after she had given birth to you, forcing her to release the Kyuubi." Natsumi continued. At this point the Sandaime had put his pipe down and was listening with rapt attention. Naruto was silently crying, horrified at what he was hearing.

"You know how the Kyuubi attacked the village and how the Yondaime "killed" the beast by sacrificing his life?" Natsumi asked, receiving a confirming nod from her nephew.

"This is a lie." the red head stated firmly. "One can not kill a tailed beast. They are entities made completely out of chakra, while they may die, they will reform after a few years. The Yondaime had instead sealed the beast away. He did not only make one jinchuuriki, however, he had made two...I was one of them..." Natsumi removed her scarf to show him her whiskers that were exactly like his own.

"The other was a new born baby, who had just had his umbilical cord cut." Naruto suddenly stood up and moved as far away from her as he could. His eyes filled with fear, his hands shaking.

"No..." He whispered in desperation.

Natsumi looked at him with sad but understanding eyes, like she knew exactly what he was going through. "Just before the beast was sealed, he tried to attack you, Naruto. Both my sister and your father jumped in front of you and died protecting you that night. I still remember their last words, their hopes and dreams for you." Natsumi's voice broke a bit during this part as she remembered the messages, tears now freely falling from her eyes. The Sandaime had his eyes shut tightly as he remembered that exact scene, Minato and Kushina impaled on the beast's claw.

"After the sealing I had to leave the village. Being made a jinchuuriki at fourteen is risky. Even having only half of the kyuubi's chakra was too much for me to handle. I was not a Ninja, I did not know how to control it. I was taken out of the village because the risk of me releasing the beast was too great and I had to learn how to control it and become a Ninja."

"A few days ago, I was finally able to return to Konoha. Now Naruto-kun, I know this must be extremely difficult for you, and I do not blame you if you hate me for abandoning you for ten years. I thought you would be seen as a hero, like your parents had hoped. I thought you would be taken care of. The villagers I had briefly met ten years ago were all so nice, I was sure they would protect you, I never imagined they would turn out like they did..."

Naruto was still on the other side of the room, tears running non-stop down his heartbroken face. Natsumi stood up from the couch and walked over to the boy, crouching down so that she would be at his eye-level. She wiped the tears from his face as a few new ones stained her own. She locked her eyes with his, a small, hopeful smile on her uncovered lips.

"I would like to make it up to you, my nephew." She said, cupping his face with her one hand and using her thumb to remove yet another tear. She tilted her head slightly to the side before she continued. "If you would let me, I would like to adopt you."

The blond boy's blue eyes flashed with betrayal. "You left me here..." He said softly, his voice breaking.

Natsumi's eyes widened. "I'm sorry..." she whispered, collapsing to her knees, her face angled down. "I am so sorry... You had such an awful childhood... I wish I could have come back sooner..." The young woman took a shaky breath before looking her fellow kyuubi jinchuuriki in the eyes. "Please let me make it up to you."

Natsumi moved forward and enveloped her nephew in a warm hug, allowing him to hide his face in her shoulder, holding him tightly as he started sobbing. "Don't leave again, Obasan." he whispered into her scarf softly, but just loud enough for Natsumi to hear.

Natsumi stilled, her face the picture of shock before she smiled, grabbing the boy into an even tighter hug. "I will never leave you again, Naruto-kun. I will always be here to protect you."

Natsumi gave the Sandaime a look, asking for permission to leave. The old man replied with a soft smile and a nod. It would be good for the new family to spend some time together.

With a swirl of leaves, Natsumi and Naruto were gone, leaving the Professor to his office and paperwork.

* * *

Natsumi had shunshined them all the way to her new apartment a few blocks away. Still holding her crying nephew she moved to sit on one of her new comfortable couches. Simply holding Naruto as he finally let some of his heartache out. Most likely the boy was not only crying about his newly acquired aunt, but everything that had happened to him for a long time. Often, once a person breaks down about the smallest thing, they think about everything else that has been causing them pain for the last few months or even years some times... It can only be healthy to let it out once in a while.

Natsumi smiled sadly as she ran her fingers through his hair and rubbed soothing circles on his back. She never had anyone to be there for her and she remembered exactly how she craved for someone to hold her while she cried. She would make sure that _this_ Naruto would not have cry alone ever again, for as long as she could possibly be there for him.

* * *

A few hours later, Naruto stirred in his sleep. The boy had cried himself to exhaustion earlier. Natsumi had also drifted off after a while, it had been an emotional day after all... but being a ninja, she awoke a moment before Naruto, feeling him move around. She kept her eyes closed and her breathing even though... just absorbing the moment.

For Naruto it was strange. As he opened his eyes he found himself still wrapped in his aunt's arms. It was nice and warm. He could hear her heart beat... it was strangely relaxing... However, it had been a long day, and he had not eaten anything since lunch so his stomach had made it's discomfort known with a loud rumble, demanding that food make its way into the blond's mouth soon. Naruto felt his aunt shake slightly as she chuckled... "Sounds like someone is hungry, huh?" She smiled at him, opening one of her eyes to look at him.

His cheeks reddened with embarrassment. Suddenly another rumble broke the silence of the room... "Heh.. guess you aren't the only one..." Natsumi spoke again, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly, a slight red dusting at her own cheeks. There was a moment of silence before Naruto grinned up at his aunt, but did not say anything.

"_Hmm, he's still so shy..."_ The red head thought. Grinning at her nephew, she ruffled his hair "How about we go get some ramen for supper at Ichiraku?" She asked him with a smile.

Naruto's eyes lit up. "Really!?" He asked excitedly, causing Natsumi's smile to widen at the excitement in his voice.

"Yeah! I like Ramen... how about you?"

"I LOVE ramen!" The blond shouted before jumping to his feet. "Come on lets go!" He continued excitedly, garbing Natsumi's hand and dragging her towards the door.

The whole way to the ramen stand Naruto was talking about ramen. How it was his favourite food, how the owner and his daughter were nice and how he went there at least once a week... Natsumi simply smiled behind her scarf as she allowed her nephew to drag her down the street. The only thing that would always get Naruto to open up was ramen...

* * *

"Hey old man!" Naruto greeted Teuchi as he ran into the famed ramen stand.

"Ah, Naruto-kun!" The old man greeted back with a smile. "Good to see you my boy."

"Ne-ne, Old-man!" Naruto said, pointing at Natsumi who had walked in right after him "This is my Obasan! I met her today."

Natsumi eye smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. Teuchi kept his ever-present smile on his face as he studied Natsumi.

"Is that so Naruto? I didn't know you had an aunt." He said with an icy tone directed at Natsumi. She knew this would most likely not be easy.

"Nor did I!" The blond boy continued, completely ignorant at the tension between the adults.

"Oh well that's lovely, Naruto-kun!" Ayame said warmly as she turned to look at Natsumi. "Its so nice to meet you ." She greeted the red head with a smile.

Natsumi smiled. "It is so nice to meet you both." She said with a smile and a low bow. "I must thank you for looking after my nephew while I was away. He has said many great things about you."

A few seconds later Natsumi and Naruto were both seated, Naruto chatting excitedly to Ayame about what he was going to order.

"So, you are Naruto's aunt." Teuchi asked as he took the red-head's order.

"Hai, Uzumaki Natsumi... nice to meet you." She replied with a smile. It really was amazing to see the old man again... He and Ayame had been some of the first to die once Konoha was invaded... They would not close the store and go into hiding, believing that the shinobi needed someone to cook good food for them... some place to go and have a drink. They had told Natsumi that Ichiraku's was their home, and it was a part of Konoha. They had said that they would serve Konoha's shinobi until the very end... just like the shinobi had served them... It took all of Natsumi's strength to not run up to the man and hug him like she used to hug the grandfatherly figure he was in her life.

"You mention that you were away..." The old man interrupted her thoughts. "Long mission?" he asked sceptically.

"Something like that, I was forced to leave the village the day Naruto was born."

"Is that so... " He replied as he stirred the boiling noodles, before serving them up. "So how exactly are you Naruto's aunt... which of his parents was a sibling of yours."

Natsumi sighed slightly before she lowered her ."My sister, Uzumaki Kushina, was his mother." She let the man get a good look at her face before covering it back up. Relying on her looks to back up her claim.

The old man's eyes widened as he took a step back in shock. "Kushina-chan" he whispered, his eyes slightly moist.

"Did you know her, Tuechi-san?" The time traveler asked softly, hoping to hear a little about her mother...or "sister"...

"Hai..." The man said softly as he wiped the counter with a cloth... his face angled down. "She used to come here almost every day..." Natsumi slowly ate her ramen as she listened to the old man's sad voice. "Lovely girl...she had a heart of gold you know... I never knew Naruto was her son" he said wistfully as he looked at the cheerful blond boy, a sad smile formed on his face. "I can't believe I didn't see it... he is just like her... such a kind soul."

"When Uzu was destroyed, we both sort of lost each-other. I was lucky enough to meet her briefly though, just before Naruto was born..." Natsumi sighed softly. "But she was definitely my greatest role model."

The old man smiled as if lost in memory.. "She was beautiful you know, both inside and out... She had so many admirers... Men would have lined up to be with her had she not already been taken..." Suddenly he laughed, wiping at his eyes... "Why, I remember when she finally brought that Minato around she had been telling me so much about... He was such a sweet boy as well..." The old man drifted off in his memories before he froze, his eyes wide enough for them to actually be visible. He suddenly looked straight at Naruto before he dropped his cloth in shock.

"Kushina... and Minato..."

"Tuechi-san," Natsumi interrupted him, a warning tone in her voice.

"Kami,.. I'm right aren't I?" The ramen chef looked at Natsumi for confirmation.

"Hai." The red head replied.

"Why weren't we told about this?!" He demanded in a whisper as to not alert the children. "The boy has been treated as a demon when he should have been praised as a prince!"

"Considering what Naruto is he should have been praised as a hero in any case!" Natsumi countered "Do you really think it would be a good idea for people to know that the Yellow Flash and the Red Hot Habanero had a son together? Could you even imagine the danger he would be in? Half the elemental nations would be after his head! He's ten for kami's sake!"

Tuechi stilled as he realised the implications of those two having an offspring together. The boy will be unstoppable one day..."Does he know?"

"Not yet..." Natsumi whispered before taking a small sip of her tea. "I will tell him about his parent's real names. However, the Sandaime has ordered that he only finds out about their title's once he has graduated."

"Kami-sama... The Yondaime's son... treated like filth... I bet he's turning in his grave right now."

"He will not be treated like filth any more. I will make sure of it." Determination burned in her eyes as she looked at the cheerful boy now playing with some game involving chop sticks with the chef's daughter.

"I'm just glad the boy finally has someone to look out for him." Tuechi declared. "Be sure to pay the bastards back for me as well..."

"Hai."

* * *

"That was great!" Naruto shouted as they walked home after supper.

"Yea, Ramen is awesome, right?" Natsumi asked him with a smile.

"RIGHT, DATTEBAYO!"

Natsumi chuckled at the catch phrase.. She had grown out of it eventually … or at least, Sakura had beaten it out of her after she was named Rokudaime, stating that no Hokage should ever speak like that.

"Ne ne, Natsumi-obasan...?" Naruto interrupted her thoughts.

"Hmm?"

"Where are we going?" He asked. They were not heading back to Natsumi's apartment as Naruto had thought they would.

"We are going to fetch an over night bag for you Naruto-kun." Natsumi said as she looked the blond in the eye. "You will be staying with me tonight... That is,... unless you don't want to stay?"

Naruto's face lit up with one of his brightest smiles. "That sounds great! Can't I just move in with you?"

"Eventually yes, once I have adopted you." Natsumi replied as they continued walking down the narrow roads that made up Konoha.

"How long will that take?"

The red head lifted her hand to cup her chin as she thought for a bit before replying. "A few days I would guess... Sandaime-sama and myself will have to speak to the council about it first."

"But why?"

"Because, Naruto-kun, you are a very important part of the village. They will not let just anyone adopt a Jinchuriki..."

Naruto was quiet for a bit before he looked at Natsumi with big eyes.

"Am I really a demon?" He asked softly.

Natsumi stopped walking and put her had on her fellow jinchuuriki's shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. "Listen to me carefully Naruto. You are not a demon, and nor am I. We are simply vessels... jailers you could say. We keep the Kyuubi safely tucked away..."

"But everyone..."

"They are all idiots, nephew." Natsumi stated firmly, fire in her eyes. "Don't listen to people who are too stupid to distinguish between a scroll and a kunai..."

Naruto simply kept staring at the ground before him, a small frown on his face.

"Hey..." The red-headed time traveler said as she lifted her counterpart's chin to look him in the eye... "It's not that bad..."She continued softly. " I've even spoken to him... He really is not that bad once you get to know him... In fact... he is actually quite a sweetheart."

"**I am NOT a sweetheart! Don't test me kit!"** Kurama roared in her mind.

"_I love you too, Kurama."_ She replied with a smile and a scratch behind his ear.

"You talk to him?" Naruto asked, his eyes wide with absolute shock.

"Of course...I would even do as far as to call him my best friend and strongest comrade."

"Could you teach me?" The young jinchuuriki asked.

"I would love to."

* * *

**A.N**

**Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you think and everything... **

**This fic is going to be long, a lot of things are still going to happen, but it cant happen all at once so there is going to be a bit of a slow start to things...**

**But yeah, please review... I love hearing your opinions... **

**Kind regards**

**Namikaze Kakashi **


	5. Chapter 5

**I Do Not own Naruto**

**Hey guys, sorry it's a bit late,... and slightly short...**

**A Past Retold - Chapter 4**

It was a morning like any other in the village of Konohagakure. The sun was bright and pleasantly warm, the birds were singing... Natsumi was standing in her new kitchen in front of her new stove wearing a bright orange apron, hands on her hips. Her hair was flowing around her in nine separate tails as she cursed at the offending kitchen appliance. The kitchen was filled with smoke and the smell of something burning...

"Obasan?" A small Naruto walked into the kitchen, his hair a mess. "What's going on?" The blond asked sleepily.

Natsumi turned her head to look at her counterpart, a forced smile on her face... her hair still waving around wildly. "Good Morning, Nephew... I was just cooking breakfast..."

"It smells kinda burnt..." the boy replied,trying to wave the smoke out of his face.

"It is NOT burnt!" Natsumi replied, her hair getting wilder by the second. "It's just extra crispy!" She exclaimed, scraping a spoon full of the soot covered pot and putting it in her mouth before turning slightly green. Naruto just saw a red blur as his aunt headed for the bathroom.

It was a few moments before the red head reappeared, holding a small towel over her mouth, her face still showing a slight green tint. "Ok... It might be a slight bit burnt..." She admitted tiredly, causing the blond boy to laugh. Her hair had finally settled back into it's usual state. "I have never been really good at the whole cooking thing..." Naruto just giggled at his slightly strange aunt.

The boy had been having "sleep overs" at her flat for a few nights in a row now, right after the night at Ichiraku's. While it could not be said that he had moved in yet, due to political issues, it was close enough for the two of them. Natsumi had allowed her blond counterpart to skip a few days at the academy. Although she knew the boy needed a lot of work on his ninja skills and missing class was certainly not helping the matter, she felt that they needed to get to know each-other a bit more. They had spent the most of their time on her couch telling life stories and making jokes... The two had finally reached a point where they could be comfortable with one another.

Today she was going to start training properly. She was also going to help Naruto with his training. Therefore she had thought that a good and healthy breakfast would be a great start to the day... well, that had not turned out very well at all.

Natsumi sighed as she rubbed the base of her nose, her eyes closed and a frown visible on her brow. "Ok, get ready for training, Naru-kun. We will go to Ichiraku's for breakfast and head to the training fields from there."

"YATTA!" The boy yelled, his sleepiness forgotten as he ran to his temporary room to get dressed. Natsumi just sighed again in defeat. As much as she loved ramen, and would eat it every day for every meal... she knew it couldn't be healthy. Everyone had always told her so in any case... She was going to have to learn how to cook properly, Naruto would not grow up malnourished or have his growth stunted.

About half an hour later found the newly formed Uzumaki family once again at the Ichiraku ramen stand, enjoying their noodles with content smiles on their faces.

"As much as I love to see the two of you every day" Teuchi started with a worried smile "Ramen is not the healthiest of meals..."

Natsumi lowered her head, mumbling softly. "Hai... but I can't cook" refusing to look the man in the face, while Naruto giggled again at her failed attempt this morning.

"Hehe... You should have seen it old man... The kitchen was filled with this dark smoke and..." Naruto suddenly quieted when he saw the look his aunt was giving him, before giving a carefree shrug of his shoulders. "Well it was... you can't deny it Natsumi-Obasan."

Natsumi just sighed again in defeat while the old ramen chef chuckled softly. "I could always teach you a few basics, Natsumi-san." he said with a fatherly smile, causing the red head to smile with genuine warmth. This man was quickly becoming a fatherly figure for her in this time.

"Thank you, Teuchi-san. I would really appreciate that." The time-traveller said with a warm eye smile, causing the old man to chuckle again.

"No problem, my child. Just come around Sunday afternoon after closing time."

Natsumi just nodded her head in an affirmative manner, still eye smiling at the man while Naruto continued to enjoy the wonders of his ramen.

"Why are we here? I thought we were going to train" Naruto asked his aunt in a whiny voice as they walked through the entrance of the library.

"We are going to train Naru-kun." Natsumi replied with a smile right after she had death-stared the lady at the front desk for muttering "demon" softly under her breath, causing the old lady to almost soil herself in fear. "The books and scrolls here are going to help us with just that." She replied before making a hand sign. A second later they were surrounded by ten Natsumi clones, each heading off to a different section of the library. Naruto looked at her with wide eyes, "You can make clones!?" He whispered in an almost disbelieving voice.

"Aah,... what of it?" Natsumi asked rubbing the back of her head, feeling slightly uneasy with the look of praise the boy was giving her.

"TEACH ME!" The energetic boy suddenly yelled causing a few people to jump at the sudden noise before giving the small family some of the darkest glares they could master.

"Shhhh!" Natsumi shushed the boy, crouching down and putting her hand over the blonds loud mouth. "We are in a library, so you have to be super quiet" She whispered to him gently, but with some authority present in her voice. Naruto simply tilted his head, as if he still did not understand why he had to be quiet, but nodded nevertheless, not wanting to anger his aunt.

Natsumi removed her hand before continuing. "Ok, now those weren't normal clones. They are called Kage bunshin. It means that they are substantial and can carry out tasks just as well as the real me can. I also receive their memories when they are dispelled. The clone technique you learn at the academy is a simple illusion, used to distract your enemy. They can not preform any tasks as they are not really there, Understand so far?"

The blond nodded, his eyes brimming with excitement.

"I will not teach you this technique..."

"N...!" Natsumi covered her nephews mouth before he could shout out again.

"I won't teach it to you yet," She continued with a stern look. "While this is a powerful technique, learning it to early on will make you become dependant on it." Natsumi knew that she used the technique way too often. It was one of her best, but using it had made her lazy and dependant on her clones to win her fights for her. "I will teach you this technique once you have proven to me that you will use it responsibly and not use it as a crutch... OK?" She could see that Naruto was annoyed. He had no patience. He wanted to learn it now, be strong now... He did not realize that learning only the powerful techniques actually made a person weak. Well, he did not realize it yet. Natsumi would make sure that by the time he graduates he will have a firm understanding of how being a ninja was not about being flashy and famous. It was about being sneaky and getting the job done in the easiest and simplest way possible, making sure the team came back alive.

Natsumi herself had only realized this closer to the end of the war, after she had been named Rokudaime. She saw that she was far too weak to protect her people, even when she had some of the most powerful techniques in the world...Well, this time around it would be different. Her cloned had gone off to find different useful E and D ranked techniques of every element and some taijutsu scrolls to help her become faster and stronger. She even sent one to look for some beginners genjutsu, advanced chakra control and beginners sealing. She would master them all to the absolute best of her ability, and then incorporate them into a fighting style to be reckoned with.

Together with Naruto, the real Natsumi headed to the basics section of the library and picked out a book on basic chakra control and some scrolls on beginners taijutsu for Naruto. The boy was still annoyed with her that he would only be learning "stupid beginner stuff" but she knew that if they followed this path, the boy would turn out a lot more powerful than she ever would.

Once they arrived at a deserted training ground Natsumi created even more clones and set them all to training, each group with a different scroll. The original then turned to Natuto with an eye smile. "Ok then, Naru. Let's get started." Seeing the blond eyes light up with excitement she chuckled.

"Lets start with fitness. I want you to run around this training field ten times. Then take a one minute break. Follow that up with fifty push ups, sit-ups, lunges, squats and pull ups. I want you to repeat this circuit five times."

Naruto 's eyes lost a bit of it's excitement for a few seconds as he listened to the intense workout his aunt had planned for him. They had never done this much work at the academy. Determination quickly set in though. He was going to get so strong after this.

The small blond shouted a small war cry before starting his circuit, causing Natsumi to chuckle slightly before she set out to do a similar circuit, but with each of the components multiplied by ten. She needed to get fit after all, and this was certainly not something that her clones could help her out with.

About two hours later Naruto collapsed with exhaustion, his clothes drenched with sweat as he tried to get oxygen in his lungs. The academy workouts never affected him but this was simply insane... Natsumi had finished her physical workout about thirty minutes before Naruto and was currently running through some advanced kata's.

She had come to the realization that because her body had aged seven years, her physical stamina and muscle memory was shot... she would really have to work quite hard on those aspects in order to be a semi-reasonable jōnin. She allowed Naruto ten minutes to catch his breath before she walked over to him.

"How are you feeling?" She asked with an innocent eye smile, a small amount of laughter in her voice.

"Dead... I have never been so tired in my life..." The sweat drenched boy replied, glaring at his aunt for having put him through that ordeal.

"Good" The red head simply replied. "That means it's working" She said, ignoring the dumbfounded expression on her nephew's face before pulling out the thick book on basic chakra control.

"Now I know that you have already used your chakra before, and you have most likely done some of the exercises in this book, but I want you to go through the first chapter and master the first chakra control exercise listed to my satisfaction. Understood?"

"Naruto's face just fell at the thought of having to read through the first chapter of that insanely thick book. "Do I have to?" He whined, trying to soften Natsumi up with his puppy dog blue eyes.

"Yes." The red head replied sternly, straightening up and looking down at Naruto with an unreadable expression. "I will not tolerate laziness. You will do this Naruto. It is most likely the most important aspect of being a ninja that you could master at this point. Especially since you are a jinchuuriki. There is no way you will ever be able to control what is sealed inside you if you can't even control your own chakra sufficiently."

"**Don't you think you are being a bit hard on the boy, kit?" **Kurama chuckled in the back of her mind.

"_He can handle it."_ Natsumi replied with a slightly worried but firm voice._ "__Plus, you can not deny that he needs to learn."_

Kurama simply widened his smirk. **"****Very well then brat, but don't come crying to me when he gives up."**

"_He won't give up."_

"**So you say."**

"_I know it."_

Naruto simply looked up at his aunt with mixed emotions before he picked up the book and settled cross legged under one of the trees surrounding the training ground. It was slow going at first, but eventually he picked up a leaf from close by and started trying to stick it to the palm of his hand with chakra. Natsumi simply smiled at the boy before getting back to her training. He would definitely become strong.

It took Naruto a few hours, but eventually, after a lot of cursing and shouting words a ten year old boy had no business knowing, he had managed to stick a leaf to the palms of both his hands at the same time.

The boy was exhausted. His knees were shaking slightly from chakra exhaustion, his brow was sweaty, but he had a wide victorious smirk on his face as he showed his aunt how far he had come.

"Well done Natu-kun!" The time-traveller exclaimed with a wide smile, ruffling the blond's hair. "I am proud of you."

Naruto smiled even wider "Hehe, I mastered it in one day Dattebayo!" he yelled excitedly, jumping up and throwing the leaves in the air. "I am awesome!"

"You are indeed awesome, but you have not yet mastered it Naruto"

The excited boy whirled around to look at the red head. "What do you mean!? The book said to stick them to my hands and I did."

"I want you to master it better than the book says. Eventually you must be able to stick them from any part of our body. I want you to work on sticking them to your feet next." Natsumi explained as she picked up a few leaves and twirled them around each of her fingers causing Naruto's shoulders to slump a bit. Suddenly she dropped the leaves and dusted off her hands. "But that will come later, you did very well today Naruto. I am proud of you." She said with another eye smile "You will be very strong one day."

Naruto's eyes lit up again at the praise. With a smirk he pumped his fist in the air. "I will be Hokage, dattebayo!" He exclaimed loudly, pointing at the Hokage mountain "Everybody will respect me."

Natsumi chuckled at his determination."I have no doubt about that, kid. You would make an amazing Hokage."

Naruto's eyes widened "You really think I could do it?"

"No Naruto, I know you could do it," She replied, ruffling his hair once again. "If you trained hard enough."

A small genuine smile lit up the boy's features. It was a rare occurrence for him to drop his mask, even around his newly discovered aunt. He might still have a long way to go but his aunt believed in him, and if his aunt believed he could do it then he could.

"**Don't you think you are babying the boy a bit"**

"_First I'm too harsh and now I'm babying him?" _Natsumi chuckled as she rubbed the giant fox behind the ears_. "Make up your mind Kurama."_

The fox simply grunted, moving his head into a more comfortable position. **"****As long as he doesn't go soft. I don't tolerate soft vessels."**

"_He's ten... Of course he's soft... He just needs a bit of encouragement at the moment."_

It was hours later that Natsumi finally returned home. Naruto had left the training ground hours ago and was waiting for his aunt to come home. He was starting to get worried just before she stumbled though the door.

Natsumi looked absolutely exhausted. Her clothes were ripped and dirty, her hair was sticking to her face and she could barely stand.

"Natsumi-Obasan!?" Naruto exclaimed worriedly.

Natsumi Straightened at hearing her name. "Oh, hey kid." She said tiredly as she held the wall to keep up straight. "I thought you would be sleeping by now. You really did not have to wait up."

"Are you OK?"

"I'm fine, just a little tired." Suddenly the red head's knees gave out and she fell to er hands and knees.

"Obasan!?"

"I'm fine Naruto," She said with a tired smile as she removed her scarf. "I just forgot about a few of my clones and they all decided to dispel at the same time." She explained, moving to sit on the couch. "When a clone dispels, the creator receives it's experiences, meaning that I also receive their their exhaustion." After a few moments the female kyuubi vessel stood up from the crouch, stretching out her sore muscles before heading to the kitchen to make some instant ramen for the both of them.

Naruto simply followed his aunt as she moved around, his eyes confused."Why do you train so hard?"

"Because" She replied, pulling at the tie keeping her hair up before running her hand through her red locks tiredly. "I'm not strong enough."

"You are plenty strong! You're a jōnin!."

"I still need to get stronger"

"But why?"

"Because, I don't want to see any more important people die."

"What do you mean?" The small blond jinchuuriki asked, tilting his head to one side. "Who died?"

The red head simply looked at the blond, trying to find a way to explain that everyone she actually knew was dead. "Some of my most precious friends." She said soflty before cleaning up their ramen cups.

"How did they die?"

Natsumi stilled, not looking at her counterpart"Honourably" she said, bowing her head slightly. "Like true shinobi."

It was a few minutes later that Natsumi walked Naruto back to his flat. As much as she wanted him to stay over again she knew they were already toeing the line. Naruto would also have to return to the academy tomorrow. He could not stay away forever. He would, however, meet up with Natsumi for training and meals every now and again.

It was a slow relaxed walk and Natsumi held Naruto's hand the entire way as they talked about the day they had. Naruto was careful not to mention anything that would make his aunt think about her friends that had died though, he did not like the sad look she had gotten on her face earlier. As they walked a few people still cursed at the small blond but they quickly scurried away after receiving death stares filled with killing intent from the red head.

"Woah" Naruto said as they entered his sparkling clean apartment.

"I sent some clones to clean it up earlier" Natsumi said with a smile, placing a hand on his shoulder she turned the boy to look her in the face. "But if you let it get that messy again we will have words... Understood?" Although the red head's face was in a smile and her voice was soft, there was a certain foreboding surrounding the statement.

"H-Hai..." Naruto replied with a slight stutter. His aunt could be really scary sometimes.

As Naruto laid in bed that night, his hands behind his head as he stared at his ceiling, he thought about the eventful day he had. His muscles were sore and tired from training and he had a slight headache from using his chakra so much earlier in the day, but he felt good. He felt a little bit stronger. However, there were a few things that were bothering him slightly.

His aunt had trained so much longer and harder than him., but he never once saw her do anything big or flashy. She seemed to focus on small things that seemed rather useless to him. One of her favourite new techniques of the day was to create a small shock when she touched someone. It seemed so useless... Why would she want to do it? She was already strong enough to be a jōnin...

Naruto sighed as he moved to lie on his side. The red headed Uzumaki was just so motivated. She had said that she did not want any more people to die. But then again, her special people had died as honourable shinobi...

That was the moment that it hit him, what it meant to truly be a ninja. Ninja died every day... Not only the enemy... but comrades as well... Family included. The blond had never really thought about it like that. He simply thought it was cool. And an awesome job...

Years later Naruto would look back at this moment and realize that it was right then that he had promised himself that he would protect his aunt ... his family. There was a big chance that she may die, but if he was strong enough he could protect her. She was the only family he had, and he had only just found her... He was most definitely not going to let her die.

**A.N**

**97 followers and 58 favorites! This is so much more than i had hoped or ever dreamed. I would like to thank all of my awesome reviewers. You guys encouraged me to get this out sooner than i would have otherwise and i really appreciate everybody's view on things.**

**I apologize that the chapter is late, and short. It has been a really busy few days but i finally got it up. Things are going to start happening from now on. In the next chapter Naruto will be back at the academy and he will be a bit more serious about things. Natsumi will also become a bit more involved with the village and meet a few people.**

**So yeah, until next time then, Please review and let me know what you think.**

**Regards**

**Namikaze Kakashi**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys, sorry it's late.**

**A Past Retold - Chapter 5**

The next morning, Naruto's determination to become a true shinobi was still there. He rose early, at the first ring of his annoying old alarm clock, had a quick shower and left for the academy. He still had his happy go lucky smile on his face but if one was to look closely, his eyes had a slightly sharper glint to them than before, a slightly brighter will to get stronger.

Naruto walked into the classroom a few minutes before the bell was due to ring and took a seat closer to the front of the class than he usually would before picking a leaf out of his bag and sticking it to his forearm, underneath his sleeve. Natsumi had told him to master the technique completely, and so he would, even if it was slow going.

Naruto's drive, however, was not the only thing that had changed. He was also wearing some new clothes. It was of a similar style to his previous jumpsuit, but the colouring was different and it fit him a lot better. Instead of the neon orange, it was now a far darker, more burnt colour. It was a colour that could easily blend in with some dead, or autumn leaves. The navy blue trimmings were also gone, replaced with black. His pants now resembled the ones seen on the ANBU, black with an orange stripe down the side, taped into some new black shinobi sandals. All in all, the blond kyuubi holder looked a lot more like an aspiring ninja while still keeping his love for all things orange.

As Iruka entered the classroom he had to do a double take. At first glance the blond boy looked like a new student but the second look had confirmed him to actually be Naruto. The scar nosed teacher was more than a little surprised to see the blond in class, and actually early for once. On any normal day, it could be counted on that the cheerful child would waltz into class at least five minutes late, disrupting whatever order he had only just managed to pull over the other children. The troublemaker's new clothes also baffled the young chuunin. Naruto loved his old jump suit...

"Good Morning, Naruto." He greeted with a smile while arranging the papers on his desk and getting ready to start teaching.

"Hey! Iruka-Sensei!"The blond replied, cheerful as always.

"Is everything all right?"

"Yip! Everything is great, dattebayo!" Naruto's voice grew even more cheerful as he continued "Even better than great! My aunt returned from her super long mission!"

At that Iruka stilled,"Really?" Turning to look at Naruto with a shocked expression "That's wonderful Naruto! I did not know you had an aunt... I'm quite sure your records show that you don't have any relatives."

"I know!" Naruto basically yelled, jumping to his feet in hie excitement and waving his arms about as some of the other students started entering the class "I never knew either... She had to leave just after I was born though, and the mission she was on was very important, so Jiji made it look like she never existed. Although she was only here for a few days before I was born...Did you know that the Uzumaki was actually a really strong clan? Yeah, we had our whole own village! It was called Uzushiogakure, and my family was the ruling family there!"

"Don't be stupid, Naruto-baka!" Sakura's shrill voice interrupted the blond "You are just lying to make yourself look cool like Sasuke-kun!"

The young jinchuuriki spun around to look at the source of the voice, "I AM NOT LYING!" he yelled, his hands forming fists and shaking slightly. No one was going to tell him him his family was a lie, no one was going to insult his clan... no matter how much of a crush he had on the girl. If she insulted his family she was not worth it. The Uzumaki were much too great a clan to be soiled like that.

Iruka could see a fight brewing, so using his big-head-no-jutsu, "Quiet, both of you!" He yelled, earning the startled looks of all the children in the class. He dismissed the jutsu before continuing, "It is true that there once was a shinobi village called Uzushiogakure, there was also a very strong clan that lived there, called the Uzumaki." He clarified in his lecture voice, he softened a bit as he looked at the young Uzumaki descendant "I never thought you were a direct descendant though, Naruto... The Uzumaki usually have red hair..."

"Yeah, my aunt said I take after my father though... apparently he was blond. Natsumi-obasan has the coolest red hair though!" Naruto explained, rubbing the back of his blond head sheepishly, his face falling slightly as he continued his story. "But then they were destroyed and my mother and aunt lost touch. My mother thought Natsumi-obasan died and Natsumi-obasan was too young to remember my mother so my aunt was raised in like, an orphanage, but came here just before I was born and met my mom. It is actually a really long story but the point is that I do have an aunt! And it's awesome!" The prankster finished with his usual cheerful voice, a smile on his face.

Iruka's expression softened. He was truly glad that Naruto was no longer alone. It really was the worst kind of pain..."I am very happy for you Naruto."

Not many students in the rest of the class were paying much attention though. Hinata had a small, happy smile as she looked at the blond from the shadows, happy that something good has happened to him. Sakura was still not believing a word of it, flicking her hair she stared out the window until class really started. One person, however, was livid. Sasuke was absolutely seething at the idea that the Dobe found a family member. He had absolutely no hope of ever finding family like that. Thanks to … that man... they were all dead. Why was it that the loser was allowed to have someone when he himself was all alone? The raven haired boy rested his head on his laced fingers, giving the happy blond a dark glare, his heart green with jealously.

At that moment, Natsumi could be found training in an abandoned training ground, running through some advanced kata's. She had started training after the episode in front of the memorial stone, promising to be strong enough to protect her best friend's counter-parts and everybody else in the village that was so much like the one she used to lead, but yet was not. Of course, she took a small break for a few days when Naruto was staying with her, but now that he was at the academy she could go all out.

It had been slow going in the beginning, it seemed that ageing seven years in one go was not the best idea for one's muscles and she had lost all of her muscle memory from a lifetime worth of training. Breasts and hips were suddenly in the way when they never were before, her arms and legs were longer meaning she had to adjust some of her stances and train through all of her combo's again, making sure every move flowed together and ensuring that she does not fall over her own feet in the middle of a fight.

Sweat dripped down the determined young woman's face as she moved through the set again and again, a few hundred clones going through similar stances around her. She had been abusing her large chakra reserves and the training trick to a point that she had never done before and was definitely not looking forward to the memory accumulation she would experience soon. As great as the advantages were training a hundred times longer in the span of a normal day, the headache and exhaustion that followed was quite a big enough draw back for most people to never want to use the technique, even if they had the reserves to be able to pull it off.

She could, however, feel herself improving. Her clones were progressing quite well with the jutsu scrolls that she had collected from the library. They were pretty small techniques but she already had a few plans to incorporate them into her normal fighting style. If it worked, her style would be something to fear...

Natsumi was going through a particularly difficult pattern when a pigeon arrived, summoning her to the Hokage. The red head cursed softly. She hated being interrupted when she was training; and the only man who knew how much she had to get stronger... why summon her now? Plus, how in kami's name did these stupid birds always know where she was... even between hundreds of clones?

Natsumi barged through the doors of the Hokage's office, ignoring the seething secretary running after her.

"There had better be a good reason for this, Sandaime." the time travelling Rokudaime stated in a low voice. The secretary was almost having a fit at how disrespectful she was being but Natsumi really could not care less.

Hiruzen took in the scene, having a slight sense of deja-vu. There used to be another red-head Uzumaki woman that hated being interrupted... Like mother like daughter he supposed.

"Ah, Natsumi-chan. I'm glad to see you got the message." He stated with a diplomatic voice, sending the secretary out. "I summoned you for more than one reason, Natsumi. I understand that you hate being interrupted when training but there are a few things that need to be sorted out still." The old man took a deep drag of his pipe before continuing in an almost dismissive tone."The Council meeting has been set for next week Tuesday."

The Uzumaki stilled at hearing that,then moving her weight to one leg and crossing her arms. "Why so far away? I know you have the power to call for one straight away."

"Yes, that is true." Hiruzen replied, still puffing away. However, we do not wish to draw attention to you and summoning all the members that happen to be outside of the village just for this matter will certainly draw more attention than we would like."

"It is going to draw attention no mater what strategy you use, Hiruzen. These people hate jinchuuriki."

"True, but I believe that we could soften the blow slightly with some clever word play."

"Fine." Natsumi replied in a dismissive tone. One week wasn't too bad. "What else did you summon me for?"

The old man looked at her for a few seconds before stating the second reason he had summoned her."I believe it is time for you to start going on missions."

"WHAT?" Natsumi yelled. A mission? Right now? True she loved missions when she was younger but at the moment she really had to train. This was going to interrupt everything.

"If you are going to adopt Naruto-kun you are going to need money. Also you need to integrate yourself into the ranks. If you want to make a change, the other shinobi are going to have to know you personally. You are also meant to be a normal jōnin." The Sandaime looked her in the eye, "It is your duty to serve the village."

Natsumi's eye was twitching as she tried to keep her voice level. "Yes, it is my duty to serve, but I think I can do a better job by training and getting stronger so that we can face the enemies that are coming our way."

"I always found that shinobi grow stronger on the battlefield than they do on a training ground."

"Hiruzen..."

"This is not up for discussion, Uzumaki." The Sarutobi stipulated with a stern voice. "Report here at six hundred hours tomorrow to receive the mission and meet your team. Dismissed."

The next morning Natsumi started getting ready for her mission at five. She had a nice warm shower, dressed in her usual ninja outfit, tied her hair extra securely, had a quick breakfast and picked up her supplies before leaving through the window. She had not been on a mission in years. Before the war she had basically just trained. First with the toads and then with Bee. It would be an interesting experience... She wondered who her team was going to be... Who did she know that was around her age in this timeline?

She arrived at the Hokage's office a few minutes early.

"Good morning, Natsumi-chan" The Hokage greeted her tiredly from behind his desk. Natsumi studied him a bit before replying. He had dark shadows under his eyes and the lines on his face were deepening. The knowledge of the future must really be weighing down on the man. He had a village to protect from an apocolypse after all... It was not an easy amount of strain to take on.

"Morning, Sandaime-sama... " She greeted back, "You look like crap old man, You really should start looking for a successor."

The old man chuckled at her direct comment. It really was quite refreshing to have someone that tells you when you look like the dead. "Ahh, but the village does not have a candidate right now Natsumi-chan... Unless you would like to take the reigns, Rokudaime?"

Natsumi simply laughed, "And take over that paperwork? No thank you... Also, you know that it is not my place to become Hokage... I have already had my reign. This is Naruto's turn."

The Sandaime smiled at the red head, nodding his head. "Somehow I knew you would say that...Nevertheless, I will be sending you to find Tsunade in a few weeks time... You said you got her to return once, you are going to have to do it again."

"Hai," Natsumi replied, with a devious grin, "I already have somewhat of a plan to get Tsunade-Baasan here..."

Hiruzen chuckled again. This red head was definitely helping him relax a bit.

A moment later the three other Ninja that would make up her team arrived, each eyeing Natsumi with curiosity. They seemed to be a little annoyed with getting a new team mate. Especially one that they had never heard about. Meanwhile Natsumi was trying her best to keep a blank expression. She may not have known these specific shinobi very well, but she definitely remembered their deaths...

"Anko, Genma, Hyate" Hiruzen addressed the new arrivals, receiving their full attention. "This is your team mate, Uzumaki Natsumi."

The three tokubetsu jōnin turned to look at the strange red head again. Not only had they never heard of her, they had also never seen her before. With hair that colour she would most definitely stand out in a crowd.

"Um, Nice to meet you." She greeted them, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly as she grinned at her team mates.

Genma was the first to step forward, grinning while fooling around with the senbon in his mouth. "Nice to meet you, Natsumi-chan." He greeted her with a wink. "Don't think I've seen you around before."

"Ahh... I have been away on a long term mission." She replied with a slight blush on a timid smile. Trying her best to not think about what he looked like sliced in half and bleeding out.

"Uzumaki huh?" Anko walked around her, eyeing her up and down. "Related to the Kyuubi brat by any chance?"

Suddenly Anko was up against the wall, a kunai at her throat and a seething angry Natsumi holding her there, her blue eyes like ice. "WHAT THE HELL, BITCH?" The purple haired woman yelled.

Natsumi simply pushed her against the wall even harder before softly growling at the woman. "What did you call my nephew?" inching her kunai even closer to the snake charmer's neck, ignoring the other two tokubetsu jōnin that were pointing their weapons at her neck.

"Natsumi stand down."

The Sandaime did not say it loudly but the command those three words held were astounding. Natsumi ignored him though, her eyes turning red and her hair going wild she whispered into Anko's ear. "If you ever talk about Naruto like that again I will kill you."

"UZUMAKI!"

Natsumi released the purple haired woman and went back to her spot. Genma and Hyate both eyeing her warily and Anko glaring at her.

Hiruzen simply rubbed his temples warily. "Natsumi is Naruto-kun's aunt. Anko, you know the law, you may not speak about Naruto like that. Also, Natsumi, the next time I order you to stand down I expect you to listen. Is that clear?"

Natsumi crossed her arms while still glaring at Anko, her eyes back to their normal blue state. "Hai, Sandaime-sama."

Anko rubbed her neck as she growled. "Hai, hai."

There was a tense silence before the Hokage continued. "Very well. This is an A rank mission. Hayate will be team leader. Although Natsumi is a full jōnin she has been on a solo mission for too long and needs to get some experience working with a team again. The mission is a simple parcel delivery. The rank is assigned due to the importance of the document being delivered." The old man finished his summary before handing Hayate the mission scroll and the documents to be delivered. "The details to when and where are in that scroll. I expect you all back by nightfall. I also expect you all back in one piece, understood Uzumaki, Mitarashi ?"

"Hai" The reluctant team corused.

"Very well then. Dismissed."

As Natsumi was tree-hopping along with her team to the drop off location she could not help but be a slight bit annoyed with her team mates. She had been given the easiest point in their formation. This was completely reasonable as her team did not know her, she would most likely have done the same thing if she were in their shoes but still, it irked her to be lowered to that position. She knew she could take every single one of her team mates in a fight. She knew she was stronger than them. Natsumi shook her head in irritation as they continued on their path. They really should have some more faith in her.

The time travelling Hokage was so caught up in her thoughts that she only realised too late that they were surrounded. Her irritation with her team mates had also caused her to miss the signal that Genma had given in warning. Silently she cursed herself for her stupidity before the enemies were upon them.

There were eight of them.

Eight jōnin Kumo shinobi.

They were definitely in trouble.

Kumo must really be interested in these documents.

Hayate took a step forward, keeping his katana at hand as he addressed the shinobi. "Greetings, Kumo." He spoke softly, pausing to cough into his hand. "We don't want any trouble here. Allow us to pass without bloodshed."

The Kumo leader laughed as he stepped forward. "Greetings, tree huggers." He greeted, rising his arms in welcome before laughing and letting them fall to his side, grabbing some kunai from his thigh pouch. "You have something that we want. Pass over the documents and there will be no need for a fight."

"I am afraid we can not do that." Hayate replied in his soft voice, readying his katana.

"Well then, We have a problem" The kumo replied with a grin. There was a moment of absolute stillness before everybody jumped to attack.

As Hayate engaged the leader, Natsumi engaged her own enemy. The kumo she was facing was slight, and fast on his feet. He did not have a lot of power behind his punches but he was fast. Natsumi could not get a hold of him. The red head tried to punch him in the face, but her arms, being slightly longer than before were also slightly slower... She missed. Another kumo shinobi attacked her from behind, ready to skewer her with a kunai as she spun around to plant a hook kick to his temple but once again her judgement was off and instead of hitting him with her heel she ended up connecting her calve to his temple, therefore not causing as much damage as she had intended. The shinobi was not even dazed as he stepped forward, slashing his kunai.

In all fairness the Uzumaki did dodge, but she did not take her change in figure into account and was rewarded with a slash across her chest.

This was not going well. Natsumi panicked at her situation. She was not yet fully adjusted to her new body and was now paying for it. She had been training hard but it was not enough. She was weak. She could not even defeat her two enemies... In that moment of panic the fast and sneaky kumo ninja grabbed her hair and placed a kunai at her throat. "Don't move." He whispered into her ear as he yanked at her hair.

Anko, Ganma and Hayate were all in similar positions and it was all her fault. They had realised she was having a rough time facing her two enemies and had tried to help, thereby not paying enough attention to their own enemies.

They had not been prepared for this. If Natsumi had just seen the signal they could have agreed on a plan before hand, but she had been too distracted with her own problems, her mind was not on the mission. She had doomed them all.

The leader laughed as he took in their pitiful positions. "You Konoha dogs are too soft... You did not even put up a fight..." He chuckled, his eyer full with mirth as he looked at Natsumi. "Especially you, tomato... You are positively useless... Konoha truly has fallen if this is what they call jōnin..."

Natsumi's eyes turned red. "What did you just call me?" She growled, causing the man holding her to move the kunai even closer to her jugular.

The man grinned even wider, moving closer. "To...ma...to."

That was it. No one called her a tomato and got away with it. Sending her chakra into her hair Natsumi caused the part of her hair held by her captor to suddenly harden and spike out, impaling the man's hand. The shinobi jerked in pain, loosening the hold on his kunai and giving Natsumi the freedom to bash her forehead into the leader's nose, breaking it. As he reeled back Natsumi spun around, delivering a spinning kick to the man who's hand was, for the time being, attached to her hair. His head snapped to the side and the force of her kick would have sent him flying if he was not attached to her. Then she grabbed her ponytail with her left hand and jerked the man forward, delivering a punch straight to his face. At the same time she thrust out her left leg, executing a perfect back kick right underneath another attacker's chin. Releasing her previous captor's hand from her hair, the Uzumaki leapt backward, performing a flip in mid air, delivering an axe kick to the shinobi that had just attacked her's collar bone, breaking it instantly, along with a few ribs. Using the enemy she had just kicked as a spring board, Natsumi flipped over the enemy behind her, landing in a crouch she sent out a few kunai. One pierced the man holding Anko's hand, causing him to jerk in pain. A Natsumi clone then stabbed said shinobi in the spleen, having been transported there in the form of a transformed kunai thrown by the original.

Anko just stared in shock as Natsumi vanished in a red blur just before another Kumo could get her, appearing right in between Hayate and the man trying to choke the life out of him. Natsumi impacted her foot to the man's chin, sending him into the air where two clones was waiting to kick him back down to he ground, knocking him out..

The last four enemies surrounded her, one leaving a tied up Genma behind in order to help get rid of her. The leader being among them. Natsumi growled at them as they got closer, luring them in before she suddenly span around, allowing her hair to spin out around her, hardening the very tip of her hair causing it to become a formidable slicing weapon. The two less experienced jonin were killed instantly. The leader and one other leapt back just in time only to be ambushed by a waiting Hayate and Genma who had just been freed by Hayate.

Anko was still simply watching in shock as Natsumi stood there, her hair dripping with blood, her eyes fading back into their normal blue. Then a playful grin grew on her face as she walked over to playfully punch Natsumi on the arm. "HA! You have got to come out for a drink with us when this is all done." the purple haired kunoichi stated with a laugh.

The rest of the mission went off without a hitch and before Natsumi knew it she was in one of Konoha's most popular bar's. Surrounded by the other jōnin and tokubetsu jōnin and with a drink in her hand,she could not help but laugh at the way Anko was retelling the story, making her sound like the most useless kunoichi in the beginning and then the most bad ass kunoichi at the end.

"Seriously though, Natsu-chan..." The purple haired kunoichi whined in a slightly slurred voice. "You have to teach me how you do that thing with your hair." Natsumi simply laughed.

"I am sorry, Anko-chan, but a kunoichi has her secrets." The red head replied with a grin, causing Anko to pout before stumbling off to re-tell the story to someone else. Natsumi chuckled at the affair. It had been a really long time since she had any alcohol and it was going to her head quite quickly. A sad smile found was hidden behind her scarf as she thought about the technique. Jiraiya had taught it to her on her three year training trip. She had begged the man to teach it to her after she had seen him use it one time. Using her hair as a weapon was the most awesome thing she could have imagined at that point. It certainly taught ninjas to never grab her hair in a fight...

Natsumi was so lost in thought that she did not even realize that a silver haired ninja had also entered the bar and was looking at her in shock, his one visible eye wide as he took in the scene.

"Kushina nee-chan." He whispered softly before his eye suddenly narrowed into a dangerous glare. In less than a second Natsumi found herself pushed up against the wall, a kunai at her throat and a very angry Kakashi glaring at her with both eyes revealed.

Seeing her old sensei caused her to freeze. The last time she had seen the man he was lying in the mud,a soft smile on his face after he had taken a deadly jutsu for her. His mask had been destroyed, but so had the lower half of his face. The only reason she knew he had been smiling was due to learning how to tell the man's moods with only one eye worth of face to judge from. Seeing that same man right in front of he, alive, holding a kunai to her neck and absolutely livid was not something she was ready to deal with.

"Who the heck are you," He growled, forcing the kunai to nick her neck. "And why in kami's name are you impersonating Uzumaki Kushina?"

**A.N**

**Hope you guys enjoyed that. The fight scene was quite difficult to do... I hope it was alright, please let me know what you thought about it so that I can improve for the next fight scene.**

**Kind Regards**

**Namikaze Kakashi**


	7. Chapter 7

**A past Retold - Chapter 6**

"Who the heck are you?" He growled, forcing the kunai to nick her neck. "And why in kami's name are you impersonating Uzumaki Kushina?"

Natsumi was speechless. She had no idea how to react... She simply remained where she was forced up against the wall, her eyes wide, trying to make sense of what was happening.

"Oi, Kakashi..." Genma drawled as he lazed over. "Why are you attacking my team mate?" The whole bar had basically stopped to have a look at the commotion. Anko was doubled over from laughter, remembering just how Natsumi had her in that position earlier that very same day. "Just don't grab her hair, Hatake." The purple haired kunoichi yelled over, still laughing.

"Let her go, Kakashi." Hayate softly demanded.

Kakashi didn't listen though. "Who. Are. You?" He demanded even more forcefully from Natsumi as she struggled to gain her bearings.

"Uzumaki Natsumi, you masked bastard." She finally gasped "Kushina was my sister." The red head wheezed out, struggling to breath a bit. At this point Genma was pointing a senbon at Kakashi's neck.

"I know you will probably kick my ass for this, Hatake. But let my team mate go."

Kakashi growled, giving Genma one of his best glares over his shoulder, causing the man to back off a bit. It also, however, made the silver haired prodigy realise just how many people were watching them. With a final push he released the red headed Uzumaki. "Kushina's family died in Uzu."

Natsumi rubbed her bruised neck as she desperately thought of a way to tell her story. Pulling her fingers back to look at the slight amount of blood covering them the Uzumaki frowned. Kakashi actually knew her mother and father personally. She would have to tread carefully.

Wiping her hand clean on her pants she raised her blue eyes to Kakashi's mismatched ones. "Kushina thought I had died that day." She said softly, "It was only years later, just before she gave birth to her son that we reunited."

Kakashi stepped forward. He was a head taller than she was, making for an intimidating sight. "How do you know she had a son?"

"I'm her sister you idiot!" The Time traveller yelled, "I was here that night!"

"If you were here why did I not know about you!"

"Why in Kami's name would you care about Kushina's affairs? Who the heck are you!?" Natsumi demanded, jabbing him on the chest with her index finger. She had asked the Sandaime about how they were going to tell Kakashi the story... luckily the Hatake had been given a separate mission the week before Kushina gave birth, one that did not involve looking after the Yondaime's pregnant secret wife. Kakashi had also been incredibly distant those days, after the death of his team mates. It should technically be easy to convince him that he had simply not noticed.

"Hatake Kakashi." he stated softly, a threat behind his words.

Natsumi just raised an eyebrow, like she had no idea why that would be remotely threatening."Oh, so you are the bastard she wanted me to meet so badly then." She countered, her voice neutral.

Kakashi stilled at that. "Nee-chan desperately wanted me to meet the _wonderful_ _"Kashi-kun"_ ." Natsumi mockingly made quotation marks in the air at the last part. "She was quite fond of you, you know." Internally Natsumi was incredibly grateful that her father had mentioned the nick name while reanimated. He had been teasing a red faced Kakashi-sensei at that point, finding it hilarious that _Kashi-kun_ was _Naru-chan's_ sensei.

"She never mentioned you." Kakashi replied with a snarl, a light red dusting on his cheeks almost completely concealed by his mask.

"Because she thought I was dead you dolt." Natsumi looked at Kakashi like he was the stupidest person she had ever had the displeasure of meeting. How was Kakashi-sensei such an ass in this time?

"Well then, why didn't I meet you the day you came to Konoha."

The red head moved her bangs out of her face before replying, as if it was the most troublesome thing to explain things to the man. "You were off on a mission at first, I believe." Then she levelled her cold blue eyes with him. This was going to be below the belt, but it had to be done. "After that you were just too caught up in the memory of your dead team mates to care about my sister or her invitations to come visit."

The Hatake took a step back in shock. "She never mentioned the visit was to meet a sister! It was always just normal ramen invitations!"

"It was supposed to be a surprise you masked bastard!" Natsumi waved her hands in the air like it was the most obvious thing ever. "When you did not come she settled for introducing you after her son was born..." Crossing her arms and shifting her weight to one leg Natsumi gave Kakashi a look with a raised eyebrow, continuing with a huff. "Well, you know how that turned out."

Kakashi was actually shaking with anger at this point. How dare this woman speak to him about Kushina like that? "Where is your proof?" He demanded from the red head.

"What," Now with both hands on her hips she gave him a look that reminded him too much of an incredibly angry Uzumaki Kushina "My hair and resemblance is not enough to convince you that I'm her sister? Fine, go speak to the Hokage, he knows everything."

Kakashi squared his shoulders as he shrug off the unwanted memories."I will do just that. But first tell me where have you been since then? I have never seen you around the village."

Natsumi simply shifted her weight before replying in a calm voice. "Long term mission. Hokage-sama will explain it to you. I only returned a few weeks ago."

"I will be checking up on this with Sandaime-sama." Kakashi replied with the same kind of calm voice, missing the angry flash in the red head's blue eyes he was about to leave before her voice called him back.

"You do that. But before you do, explain to me," she walked up to him, managing to look incredibly intimidating for someone so much shorter than him "Where the hell were you when Kushina's son needed you!?" She demanded, pushing the Hatake with enough power to make him stumble backward a few steps. Murmurs started up again around the crowded bar. Just when it looked like the fight was over, it had started up again."Kushina and her husband treated you like a son and how did you repay them? By leaving their son to the dogs?" Natsumi breathed heavily as she glared at the silver haired man she always respected. She leaned in to whisper in his ear "Minato would turn in his grave if he could see how you have disrespected his legacy." she hissed before storming out the bar and disappearing in a red blur.

There was a moment of silence where everybody stared at the seething copy cat ninja. His eyes had widened when the red head had leaned in to whisper something but they were quickly replaced with the look most people never saw twice.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was finishing up the last of his tedious paperwork for the day. Getting ready to make all the changes the time travelling Rokudaime had basically demanded was no easy task...For example, revamping the academy. The Feudal Lord had to be asked permission, which was probably the most annoying part of the whole process. The strange man could hardly ever make a decision on his own and his advisers were more interested in the capital they would be losing than the survival of one small village, even if it was a ninja village.

After that the instructors would have to be told and a whole new curriculum would have to be derived. He would also have to subtly tell the council that the changes would be taking place, giving them no chance to reject anything... That would probably be just as troublesome as the Feudal Lord...

The ageing professor let out a deep sigh, rubbing at his temples, his elbows resting on his old wooden desk. He knew he was getting way to old to be dealing with any of these annoyances. He would much rather be spending his last few years relaxing with his family... watching his grandson grow up... Hopefully witnessing his youngest son find a woman.

Slowly the old man got to his feet, his joints creaking as he did so. Off in the distance he could hear a commotion but he could deal with that tomorrow... he would bet all of his savings that there would be a report on the incident sitting on his desk in the morning... along with a few more stacks of paperwork. Really, paperwork was to a Hokage as ironing is to a housewife... never-ending and very unrewarding.

The noise grew louder and louder, sprouting a small feeling of dread in the Professor. He had the sudden feeling that his bed was going to have to wait a few more hours...

He could now hear one of the night guards arguing with someone, not allowing the other person to disturb the Hokage... Suddenly the door burst open anyway, an angry silver haired man ignoring the guards attempts to stop him.

"Sandaime-sama!" The elite jonin growled, shoving the poor chuunin guard aside so hard the poor teenager hit the opposite wall with a thud, not getting up from the position he landed in.

"Why are you assaulting my chuunin, Kakashi?" Hiruzen sighed... this was going to lead to even more paperwork... although the chuunin really should have a bit more resistance to blacking out...

"Sandaime-sama, there is an impostor in the village impersonating Uzumaki-Kushina's sister. I tried to confront her but ..."

"Jiji! Kakashi might be...Oh" A new voice interrupted the Hatake, coming from the direction of the window. Natsumi was sitting on the windowsill, letting in the cool night air. The two jonin eyed each other. "Ah,.." The Uzumaki giggled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. "Oops...I'm a bit too late."

A low growling could be heard from where Kakashi was standing, glaring at the time traveller. Sarutobi sighed again, sitting back down on his unforgiving office chair. He was definitely not going to get home any time soon.

"Kakashi" The old man started, his head resting between his hands, elbows once again on the hard desk surface. "Sit down and calm down. Natsumi, come in and close the window."

Kakashi and Natsumi did as they were told. Kakashi in an irritated manner and Natsumi in an almost guilty one. She honestly had hoped it would go better. The old man really did not need any more stress.

"I am going to sort this out quickly. You two can clear up the small details later." He stated softly, looking at them from over his interlaced fingers. "Kakashi," the Hokage's gaze moved over to the man "Natsumi really is Kushina's sister." Holding up his hand to stop the copy ninja from interrupting "She arrived in Konoha just before the Kyuubi attack. Kushina had previously thought her sister had died. After arriving in Konoha, Natsumi and Kushina got along very well despite not really knowing each other. Minato even insisted that Natsumi move in with them, which she then did." The Hokage took a short break from his explanation to take a long drag on his pipe. "During the Kyuubi attack Minato made both his son, Naruto and Kushina's sister, Natsumi, jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi..."

"WHAT!" Kakashi cried out, standing up from his seat.

"Don't interrupt me Hatake!" The Sarutobi bellowed, the authority gained from decades of being a Hokage present in his voice. "Sit back down." He demanded, waiting until the silver haired jonin took his seat again he continued.

"The Uzumaki blood is required to hold the Kyuubi securely. The sheer amount of chakra that the beast has is simply too much for a new born baby and Natsumi was too old for her chakra paths to stretch enough to accompany the surge in power. After the attack Natsumi had to leave the village. She was unstable and in essence, was a danger to the village. She left with Jiraiya that very night to gain control of the Kyuubi and train to become a kunoichi."

At this, Natsumi squirmed in her seat. Secretly the Sandaime was quite impressed with her acting skills. The current Naruto would be sitting there fidgeting and looking out the window, looking suspicious as he listened to the lies being told, but Natsumi lowered her head at just the right moment, giving the impression of grief from losing her sister. Brushed the back of her head sheepishly as if remembering how Minato accepted her into the family. Squirming in her seat when he mentioned her leaving, as if she were ashamed for having to leave her nephew behind, all alone. Undoubtedly, she had the skills needed to be a good Hokage. It really was a shame she would not accept the mantle... Sarutobi sighed mentally before finishing up his explanation.

"Since then she has trained and gathered information outside the village until a few weeks ago when a mission went south and she was teleported here by accident, landing in the training fields, where you, Kakashi, found her and brought her to the hospital."

At this both Jonin's eyes widened. Natsumi looked over to Kakashi to see him looking back at her. She had no idea that he was the one who had found her... She really should do something to thank him for that...

Kakashi was simply stunned. Not only was this woman related to Kushina, she was also a jinchuuriki... and she had moved in with Minato-sensei... While Minato had often offered the spare room to him, Kakashi had never taken him up on it... Thinking back now, he really should have... "_I am not jealous..._" He thought, not even convincing himself properly.

Hiruzen watched the two other people in his office silently staring at each other. They were both amazing shinobi. Hiruzen had watched Natsumi during one of her more intense training sessions and he knew exactly what Kakashi was capable of... Together the two of them would make a formidable team... The Pofessor grinned mischievously as a plan formed... This would work perfectly...

"Now, Kakashi." Hiruzen drew both the jonin's attention again. "The fact that Natsumi in a jinchuuriki is an S class secret, just like Naruto. The only difference is that the council does not yet know about her... They will, however be informed at the meeting on Tuesday." Adopting a serious expression the man continued. "The reason I have told you about Natsumi is because the council will probably insist that a sharingan user is kept close to her for extra security. Therefore, starting next week, the two of you will be mission partners indefinitely..."

"WHAT!" Natsumi jumped to her feet, her hair wild and her eyes red. "I have FULL control of Kurama! You can't...!"

"I can, Natsumi-chan," The Sarutobi interjected, his _"Hokage voice"_ once again in play, "and I will, because I believe it is a good plan. I do not thing the council will allow you out of the village otherwise...Do you really want to be imprisoned here for the rest of your life?" He asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"Sandaime-sama..." The red head murmured, the strength leaving her body. She knew that the old man had a plan behind all of this, and she realised that it would ease the council's distrust of her... but still... she was not sure how to deal with this younger Kakashi.

Kakashi had just squared his shoulders before speaking. "I refuse to have a mission partner."

"So help me Kami I will set you to be Gai's permanent partner..."

"SANDAIME!" Kakashi exclaimed.

"The matter is closed. I suggest the two of you get to know each other over the next few days. You will be leaving on missions after the meeting on Tuesday. You are both dismissed."

"But.."

"DISMISSED!"

"Hai, Sandaime-sama..."

As soon as they left the Hokage tower the two jonin split up without a word, disappearing in silver and red blurs respectively. Natsumi headed straight home. It was a long day and she was tired... all she wanted right now was to pass out.

The next day Natsumi went about her usual schedule. She went to the training grounds, created about a thousand clones and set about training. Half of her clones were practising the techniques from numerous scrolls, the other half were stationed around Natsumi, awaiting their orders.

"OK guys listen up!" The original commanded her left over clones, "I need to get stronger faster. The half of you here with me are going to attack me in groups ranging from three to ten. I expect you to go all out... the last mission went south because of me... I need to make sure that it does not happen again. Do not attack in your groups until the previous group is completely dispersed. Use the intelligence gained from the previous clones to fight me better... Understood?"

"HAI!" Her clones bellowed back enthusiastically. They always seemed to love beating up the original.

"OK then, Start!"

A few hours later Natsumi was bruised, bleeding and exhausted... She had trained a lot harder than usual and her clones had definitely not gone easy on her.

Slowly the red head sat down on the grassy training grounds, taking a deep breath to calm herself and closing her eyes. With a look of distinct concentration she started dispersing the clones that were still training the various techniques from the library scrolls one by one, making sure to process every single clone's memories individually. This manner of dispersing clones took a lot more time, but it also helped her sort through the memory transfer a lot more efficiently.

When the last clone popped and her memories successfully transferred Natsumi was completely drained. Slowly she peeked through her eyelashes, taking in the sun's position with her weary half lidded eyes. She was going to be late if she did not get moving soon...

With a quick shrug of her shoulders and a slight shake of her head she stood up and attempted to brush the dirt and blood off her body. It did not work very well. She took in her appearance with a frown, before sighing and completing a few hand signs. A puff of smoke later she was standing there looking like she had never trained in the first place. With a satisfied smirk she walked off to her destination, not once noticing that another ninja had been watching her the whole day. Then again, this particular ninja was a very well known assassin and knew exactly how to remain unnoticed.

Kakashi was annoyed and confused. The Uzumaki woman had been training the whole day. Not just training but training herself to the ground with a determination he had never seen before in a fellow shinobi.

Sure, some shinobi trained hard, like Gai... but this was something different. The woman just kept on going no matter how many times her clones beat her up... Also, she was using an insanely high level technique, Kage-bunshin... like it was nothing... and she was using them to learn really low level techniques. Ones she should have learnt as a genin. Simple party tricks almost... Of course, it was always useful to know a lot of techniques but the one she had been focussing on the most was to generate a small shock at her fingertips. _SMALL_ being the key word here. Often her clones would get incredibly upset if the shock created was too strong...He wondered what she was going to use it for...

He was quite amazed at how long she had stuck it out, sparring with random groups of clones. Clones that were definitely not taking it easy on her. They were attacking as they would attack an enemy, drawing blood quite often, but the kunoichi simply ignored the wounds and kept on going... He supposed that the kyuubi was helping her heal but it was still rather reckless. They had a mission in a few days and here she was training herself to the ground. She had better not get some sort of injury and hold him back from completing missions...

After her sparring training the Uzumaki went into a meditative position, slowly dispersing the remaining clones with a look of intense concentration on her face. Her shoulders sagging a bit more with every other clone that popped... He did not understand how she could take the strain of their exhaustion on top of her own but she did it... Once again he supposed the beast within her allowed her body to handle the strain. No normal human would have been able to do something like that.

The henge she executed at the end of the training session was a bit strange. Sure, she looked like the dead but there was no need to hide it in a ninja village. He followed her as she headed off, having assumed that she was going to head home for a shower or go get something to eat. He was rather surprised though when she stopped outside the academy building, taking a seat on the swing. What was she doing here?

A few moments later a bell rang and children came running out the doors, finally freed from the prison like academy classrooms. Kakashi watched, intrigued as the Uzumaki woman eye smiled, standing up from her seat on the swing. Kakashi frowned, taking in the odd smile but forgetting about it soon after. A few moments later a hyperactive blond boy ran up to the red head, giving her a tight hug around her waist, not noticing the slight wince the woman gave as he aggravated some of her hidden wounds.

The woman chuckled, ruffling his hair as she asked him how his day was. With the brightest smile the silver haired jonin had ever seen, the small boy went about explaining his day. How the classes were boring and his classmates were annoying and how he was going to be strong and become the Hokage, how he was going to protect his aunt in the future... The red head stilled a bit at that; it was only for the fraction of a second and the child did not seem to notice as he went about telling the Uzumaki woman about his day.

It was only then that Kakashi looked at the blond properly. Sure he had known exactly who the brat was when he had come running out of the academy towards his aunt, but he had purposefully avoided looking at the boy properly...

He looked just like his father. Blond hair and bright blue eyes... His infectious laugh and loud voice however was just like his mother. It was hard to take in, seeing Minato-sensei and Kushina nee-chan within him, but knowing that they were both dead. His eyes hardened as he looked at the boy. Why did the brat have to look so much like Sensei? It was cruel... Every time he looked at the child all he could see was the boy's father. Kakashi could not take it any more, he left the red head and her blond nephew to their own devices and headed toward the memorial stone.

He stood there for a few minutes, staring at the black stone with his jaw tensed, reading Minato and Kushina's names over and over again. Remembering what it was like when they were still alive...

Then, squaring his shoulders he smiled the very same eye smile Natsumi had smiled earlier. "So, Sensei, Obito, Rin, Kushina Nee-chan... Sorry I'm late..." He addressed his precious people, his hands in his pockets, his posture slouched. "I was on my way here when I got distracted by a strange red vixen sitting on a swing..."

**A.N **

**Hey Guys... I know it's late and I apologize... it has been a hectic few weeks and I had to format my laptop... Yeah I'm sorry**

**THANK YOU SO MUCH TO MY REVIEWERS! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME... AMAZING... WONDERFUL...**

**I hope the chapter was ok, it has been the hardest chapter to write so far... Please, if you can, let me know what worked and what did not work with the chapter, so that i can try improve for the next chapter.**

**Kind Regards**

**Namikaze Kakashi**


	8. Chapter 8

**I apologize for this is so late guys.**

**I fixed the italics formatting problem, thanx to those who pointed it out, I really appreciate it. Does anyone know how I would go about getting a Beta? Also fixed the toad/frog thing. (24 Aug 2016)**

**I don't own anything.**

**A Past Retold : Chapter 7**

**XXX**

"Stupid rain." Natsumi cursed as she lumbered home after a long training session with Kakashi. The council meeting was scheduled for tomorrow and they would be expected to go on missions together soon. Therefore, they would have to be able to work as a team ... but that was easier said than done.

The session started with Natsumi waiting three hours for Kakashi to show up. No real surprise there but it was still rather annoying, having to wait for her mission partner in the cold, dreary weather they were experiencing today. She created some clones and set out to train a bit as she waited for the masked ninja to arrive.

"Yo."

The training fields went silent as every single clone stopped what they were doing to give the Hatake the best evil glare they could muster.

"You're late." The closest clone stated, venom in her voice.

The elite ninja said nothing, only shrugged his shoulders in an indifferent manner.

Natsumi just sighed. "Let's just get started."

What followed had been the worst training session Natsumi had ever experienced. She thought that they might work well together. They had certainly made a good team in her past time line but here ... everything was just wrong.

He was not _her_ Kakashi Sensei.

There was a different feel to him.

He was a lot darker, more serious and less interactive. He did not make any of the jokes she was used to hearing. Nor did he make small talk.

They went through some exercises meant to strengthen their team work and allowing them to get to know each-others fighting style but it was bordering on a dismal failure. Their fighting styles simply did not match. His was smooth and calculated with very little wasted movement. Every technique perfectly executed for maximum efficiency. Hers was wild and unpredictable, often taking big risks in order to get close to her attacker, allowing the Kyuubi to deal with whatever wounds she might suffer. Both styles had their strengths, but Natsumi's style had a lot more weaknesses that Kakashi's.

"How could you possibly be a jonin?" He asked after an hour or so, his disapproval of her skills clearly evident in his voice. "Your taijutsu is appalling."

"Well I am sorry I don't live up to your standards Mr. I-Am-Perfect." Natsumi snapped back flipping her dripping wet fringe out of her eyes.

It did not get any better from then on. The Uzumaki's style resolved around having the rasengan ready to plunge into her opponents face and seeing as using that technique would give raise to way too many questions, for the time being, she could not use it. Also, Natsumi could not yet use Senjutsu because she had technically not signed the toad contract here, she had absolutely no idea what might happen if she tried to take in nature chakra...

Still muttering softly, the soaked red head headed up the stairs of her apartment building. Feeling utterly spent as her cold, clammy hands turned the knob of her apartment door. She entered her apartment with a sigh, slamming the door behind her.

She was a pathetic excuse for a jonin. Kakashi was right. Training as hard as she had been it simply was not enough. She could not train in her own. She needed someone to tell her what she was doing wrong, someone to point out her flaws with absolute honesty, like her Jiraiya used to or maybe even her Kakashi-sensei.

She would need to arrange with the Sandaime for a trainer or at least a proper sparring partner... Maybe the old man himself could help her out a little, he had trained the sannin after all.

**_XXX_**

This was silly. She was his aunt and he had absolutely no reason to feel even the slightest bit nervous … but still … What if she was busy? What if she did not want to spend time with him today? She was a jonin … and they probably had tons of things to do every day …

The hesitant blond boy raised his hand and softly knocked.

A few seconds later the door opened, revealing his aunt half way through some instant ramen with her hair up in a bright orange towel, like she had just stepped out of the shower.

"Naru-chan!" The older Uzumaki exclaimed with a smile when she saw her nephew standing at the door. "Come on in! I just made ramen, do you want any?"

Naruto's heart lifted. What had he been thinking? She was his aunt ... his family after all. And she had even spoken about adopting him a few times … He should not have been so shy.

"Hai, Natsumi obasan!" The small kyuubi vessel basically shouted with excitement before he skipped into the apartment. "Do you have any miso flavoured? That's my favorite"

Natsumi chuckled as she closed the door. "Of course, Naru-chan. It's the best flavour there is."

Approximately three minutes later both Uzumaki's were seated on the couch enjoying their freshly made ramen, content smiles on their faces.

**XXX**

"Ne ne Obasan," Naruto excitedly spoke with his mouth full, "I mastered that leaf exercise all over my body! And the next one that makes them spin!" The blond moved his chopsticks in a circular motion as he explained, eyes wide.

Natsumi flicked him on the forehead for his bad table manners but her face was lit up with a proud smile. "Thats amasing Naru. Could you show me?"

"Sure!" Naruto said excitedly, spewing ramen all over the couch earning himself a stern glare and a twist of his ear until he apologized and offered to clean the mess.

"Well done Naruto." Natsumi said gently as the ten-year-old cleaned up the mess. " You must have worked really hard."

"He he. Well it wasn't that bad. I just practiced every day." Naruto moved away from his aunt and produced a leaf from his pocket. He then proceeded to show her how he could perform the technique on various places of his body, ending with the soles of his feet. "The spinning one was a bit harder than the first though, but I got it eventually."

"I am really proud of you Naruto. Well done."

Naruto's face lit up with happiness. It felt really, really good to have someone proud of you... He would go through ten times as much training to hear it again. "So can you teach me that solid clone technique now?" He asked excitedly, his eyes alight with excitement.

"No." Natsumi replied sternly before moving to the kitchen and starting on the dishes.

"But why?"Naruto asked as he followed her, carrying his own bowl and placing it down on the counter.

"Because," Natsumi sighed as she picked up his bowl and washed it before setting it aside, "if I teach it to you now you will simply rely on it. You need to know the basics first."

"But obasan..."

"Naruto."

The small blond slumped his shoulders in resignation. "Hai hai." He mumbled, his head down.

"I don't mind helping you with the kawarimi or henge no jutsu though." The Uzumaki woman replied after a moment.

Naruto looked up at her with the saddest eyes he could muster. "But those are boring."

His aunt chuckled "They may seem boring, Naruto. But its better to know some boring techniques than to get skewered on the battle feild because you couldn't get out of the way in time."

"I guess." Naruto replied, still not convinced.

"Also, Kawarimi is the base technique for shunshin no jutsu. If you can master kawarimi, you can learn the shushin much faster."

"Really? That's awesome!"

"And Henge could be of great use for some epic pranks." Natsumi sold the transformation technique with mischief twinkling in her bright blue eyes. Naruto simply answered her with a foxy grin of his own.

Iruka sensei had no idea what was awaiting him in the near future.

**XXX**

"What is that, obasan?" Naruto asked about an hour later as the small family relaxed in the living room before bed time.

"That is my beginners fuuinjutsu book." Natsumi replied, not moving from her stretched out position on the couch, turning a page. "I have been trying to learn it to honor our clan. I've been a bit busy training lately though so I have not really gotten around to it yet."

Naruto circled the couch to get a look at the swirly designs. "Do you think I can learn it too?" He asked after a few moments reading alongside his aunt.

Natsumi closed the book and looked at him with a strange expression on her face. "Actually," She replied with a thoughtful tone, "that might just be a really good plan. Konoha needs as many seal masters it can get."

"Why?"

Setting the book aside Natsuni explained. "Well, as I understand it, the whole village is protected by seals. You can think of it like a big, transparent glass bowl placed over Konoha, and it only allows certain people through... or it lets the intelligence sector know when ever an enemy enters." Natsumi explained, using her hands to form a dome like structure. "Konoha needs someone to update the security every now and again. Also, from reading this book I have realized that sealing can actually be very effective on the battle field. You can create barriers and stuff. Or store elements like water to use for elemental jutsu...Then there is the usual explosive notes and storage seals. These are only the simple seals though." The red head suddenly turned more serious, her delicate eyebrows coming together in a slight frown. "What if the kyuubi was to get out one day? He would need to be sealed into a new host in the future...As far as I know there is only one Konoha seal master and he is hardly ever actually in the village..."

"Wow, seals are so cool." Naruto almost whispered in awe, having missed every word after 'explosive notes'

Natsumi flashed a foxy grin, ruffling her nephew's spiky blond locks. "Your parents would definitely be happy if you mastered it though. They were both excellent seal masters."

With that Naruto snapped out of his daydreams involving Sasuke desperately running around, tied to some explosive notes as he stood on the side and crackled madly, threatening to set them all off.

"Really?" He asked with wide eyes, always keen to learn more about his parents.

"Yeah"

"Awesome..."

Natsumi picked the book back up again and gestured for Naruto to come sit next to her. Together they started from page one, with Natsumi occasionally explaining some of the more complex words or the chakra laws involved.

Time passed quickly and Naruto found the whole idea of seals to be really awesome. Even though it was difficult to understand and forced him to think in a way that was completely different to how he usually figured things out, it was interesting. And after a few minutes of thinking, the arrays really made sense to him. It wasn't long before Naruto was begging his aunt to stay up later so that he could read a bit longer but the red head refused, stating that sleep was important for growing boys. The blond went to bed slightly disappointed but Natsumi had promised to get him his own copy as soon as she could, and he had to be up early for class anyway.

**XXX**

Yamanaka Inoichi was annoyed. He had been called from his home in the early hours of the morning by order of the Hokage. It was only a temporary annoyance though. He was a shinobi after all, and the Hokage would not call him at this hour if it had not been important.

He arrived at the Hokage tower scarcely fifteen minutes after the ANBU had roused him from his sleep, dressed in his full shinobi uniform, his mind clear and sharp. An ANBU then informed him that they were waiting for him in the Hokage's office. Secretly Inoichi hoped that he had not kept the Hokage and whoever else waiting for too long. The ANBU had not informed him of a dire emergency so fifteen minutes should not cause too much of an annoyance for the Hokage.

The platinum haired man entered the office a few seconds later, bowing and greeting the Hokage before studying the other people in the office. There were only two people present other than the Hokage and himself. The first he recognized immediately. One of his greatest friends and team mates, Nara Shikaku greeted him with a nod, his expression revealing that he was very deep in thought... and very worried. This would not bode well.

The last person present was a young woman with bright red hair and clear blue eyes, the lower half of her face covered by a black scarf. She wore the uniform of a jonin but he was positive he had never seen her before.

"Inoichi," The Hokage greeted from behind his desk, a kind but worried smile on his lined face, "I apologise for pulling you from your bed so early in the morning but it seems that we are in need of your expertise."

Inoichi returned the smile. "It is no problem, Hokage-sama. I am here to serve to the best of my abilities."

Sarutobi accepted his words with a nod of his head as he lit his pipe. "I suggest you take a seat, Inoichi. What I am about to tell you will come as a shock." The Hokage's face was grave. This was no normal summoning. Inoichi moved to the nearest chair and sat down, his mind solely focused on what the Sandaime was about to say.

The Hokage gestured to the red headed woman as he continued. "This is Uzumaki Natsumi. She is the sister of Uzumaki Kushina and thereby the aunt of Uzumaki Naruto." The old village leader paused. Inoichi frowned, although this was surprising information, it did not explain the worried expression Shikaku wore.

"Well at least, that is the story that everybody outside this room knows, or will know on Tuesday. Every word I say after this is an SS – ranked secret Yamanaka-san." With that Inoichi paled. He had never known a double S-ranked secret and he had been happy about it. If the Hokage ever suspected, even for a second, that someone might leak a secret as large as this, they would wake up with a slit throat.

"I understand, Hokage-sama." Inoichi replied, his voice steady but his heart nervous. Of course, he was loyal to the leaf, he would never reveal anything that the Hokage deemed a secret. Deep down he could also feel a slight tinge of pride that the Hokage could trust him with a secret this big. The rest of his being was scared about what he might learn.

"Uzumaki Natsumi is in fact Namikaze–Uzumaki Naruto, Rokudaime Hokage of Konoha. She has traveled here from the future to warn us. I am not lying to you, Inoichi. She has proven herself to both me and Shikaku. It is true that the Uzumaki Naruto you know is male, which is rather confusing I'll admit, but considering the nature of the matter it is the least confusing thing we need to deal with. This Naruto comes from the alternate reality where Naruto was born female.

"Moving onto more serious matters. Naruto, or as she will be known from now on Natsumi, came here to warn us. The future she came from is filled with dangers and threats that eventually lead to the downfall of all five shinobi nations. Obviously we have to stop that from happening. I will admit, I did not want to involve you in this mess at first but Shikaku has urged me that it is necessary. We need to know exactly what is going to happen and when. Natsumi cant remember everything in great detail and might forget to mention something small that could in face be extraordinarily important. I need you to delve into her mind and go through every single memory she has along with Shikaku so that we can formulate a strategy."

At this point Inoichi sat with his head in his hands, his eyes wide. The Hokage would not lie to him. Also, this Natsumi, would not have been able to convince both the Hokage and Shikaku with a lie.

"If I do this, Hokage-sama, It will be an enormous invasion of privacy." He said after a few minutes, his voice soft. He paused for a few seconds before he looked over to the young red-headed woman, studying her face intently for the first time. Seeing the well hidden grief lurking in her eyes, noticing her stiff shoulders. "I will see every single memory you have, every single secret you have ever kept, every act you have ever done. This includes friends, enemies, lovers..." He spoke directly to her. This would be no joyride.

Natsumi removed her scarf to reveal round, whiskered cheeks, making her look even younger than she already did. She smiled sadly before answering in a soft, but genuine voice. "I am willing to sacrifice my privacy for Konoha. If this is the only way to save everyone here then I will gladly do it a thousand times over. However Inoichi-san, you must remember what the Sandaime said earlier. Where I come from is not like anything you have ever seen before. The war was incredibly brutal and absolutely everybody is dead."

What he saw in her mind would probably scar him for life. Also, if she was truly Uzumaki Naruto's counterpart, she would be a jinchuuriki. It would be extraordinarily dangerous for him to enter her mind. The beast could easily rip his mind to pieces if he was not careful. However, this girl was brave, therefore he would be as well.

He turned his gaze to the Hokage, straightening his posture and taking a steadying breath.

"Very well, lets get started."

**XXX**

**A. Guys, I am really really sorry for the long wait... I had exams, then I had to move... But I promise I will try my best to update more often. Thank you so much for the reviews, you guys are awesome :)**

**Please let me know what you think, be harsh if you must.**


	9. Chapter 9

**I do not own Naruto**

**A Past Retold - Chapter 8**

There was blood everywhere. Shinobi from all over the elemental nations lay dead on the ground, their life fluids draining away, transforming the sand into a sticky, muddy mess. A dark figure approached Natsumi. She tried to move but her feet were stuck to the ground, her legs heavier than lead. Desperate, she moved her hand to arm herself with a kunai but her pouch was already empty, as was every other place she always hid weapons. The enemy drew closer, his red eyes gleaming. A sinister smirk on his face.

"Uzumaki..."

Natsumi sat bolt upright in her bed, kunai ready, eyes wide.

"**Steady kit, it was just a dream." **Kurama grumbled.

Natsumi took a shaky breath to steady herself, then hid her kunai beneath her pillow again.

"_A very vivid dream._" She replied, wiping the slight amount of sweat from her brow. She rose from her tumbled sheets with a sigh.

Kurama watched from the depths of her mind as his host went about getting ready for the day. The human was falling apart, weak beings as they are. Well he supposed he could not blame her for being human... She was a strong one when she wasn't being a half-witted idiot.

"**You need to get more sleep, Naruto."**

"_It's Natsumi now_."

"**I will call you Naruto until your inner self reflects your outer appearance." **The most feared tailed beast looked upon his host, his lip turned up in a snarl.

"_I get enough sleep_." Natsumi eventually mumbled.

In her mind scape, Natsumi still resembled her seventeen year old self .

She paced along her sewer like mind scape day in and day out. Constantly worrying about the future. Always thinking about what she had lost. Kurama had been forced to watch her flash through the memories of how each of her loved ones had died, and in all honesty, it was becoming rather bothersome.

"**Shut up brat, you know you're lying. You hairless monkeys can't function properly without your daily nap."**

" _I don't have time to take a nap._" Natsumi replied, not stopping her endless pacing. She did not even glance in the fox's direction. "_ Besides, I have to meet the Hokage in an hour or so anyway. Stop worrying."_

Kurama huffed in annoyance, slamming his many tails to the ground.** "If you keep wallowing in this pit you have dug yourself, the people here are going to die as well."**

_"How I handle things is none of your business."_

Kurama roared with indignation. "**I sacrificed half of my very essence for you, you ungrateful brat! I have every right to tell you that you are being a fool!"**

Finally Natsumi stopped her endless pacing and looked upon Kurama, her fury evident on her face. _"I am trying my best..."_She said slowly, trying to keep her voice controlled.

"**You are lying to yourself and you know it!" **Kurama roared back.** "The level you are currently performing at is on par with what you where as a fresh genin."**

"_That is going too far,_" Natsumi snapped, "_I have worked my ass off since then!"_

Kurama had reached the end of his short patience, deciding to sleep through his host's annoying memories and irritating pacing . He turned his back to her and made himself comfortable on the damp floor.

"**Yes, you have. But recently you have thrown all that work down the gutter, wallowing in self pity. Your people are dead, Naruto. Deal with it before the people here follow the same path." **With that the enormous fox closed his eyes and refused to listen to anything else the blond girl shouted at him.

XXX

Natsumi arrived at the Hokages office a few minutes early, finding the old man staring at the Hokage mountain.

"Sandaime-sama." She greeted with a slight bow.

"Natsumi-chan," He greeted back, still staring out the window. "Are you ready for today?"

"I suppose...Are you?"

"For the meeting? Yes. For what follows? I do not believe so." The old man took a deep breath before continuing. "I am old, Natsumi-chan. Even getting through the paper work is becoming a difficult task for me. The news you have brought has aged me."

"I could help you with the paper work."

"That is kind, my child. But after this meeting you will be just as busy as I."

"I will leave a shadow clone."

Sarutobi sighed as he turned away from the window. "You know they do not last long enough, and you need your full strength for what is to come."

"I can hardly use my full power now anyway..." Natsumi scoffed, " I can't use the Rasengan, I can't summon the toads or use Senjutsu... I have had to try change my whole fighting style but it has not been working very well at all. Even Kakashi said that I am a pathetic excuse for a jonin."

"Yes, I watched your training session yesterday..".The sandaime studied the Uzumaki as he lit his pipe. "You can still use the Kyuubi."

Natsumi waved the idea away as she started pacing, ignoring the irritated grumble in her head. "Isn't that a bit much for everyday sparring?"

The Hokage puffed out a cloud of smoke before answering. "That may be so, but as you said, it is needed. Kakashi needs to know exactly what you are capable of...Have you tried to summon the toads yet?"

Natsumi stopped her pacing for a second to shoot the man a confused glance. "No Hokage-sama, I have not ."

The Sandaime seemed to be getting at something but Natsumi was not quite sure what. He turned to face the village again,"I remember when Jiraiya first tried to summon." The man chuckled at the memory, "He had not signed a contract yet you see, so it was incredibly stupid of him."

Now this was a story Natsumi had never heard before... She had never really thought about how or when Jiraiya got his hands on the contract. He was a civilian child, so he had not gotten it through his family and shinobi did not just share summoning contracts...

"What happened?" She finally asked.

The Hokage chuckled again as he remembered the white haired brat disappearing in a cloud of white smoke. "He was reverse summoned to mount Myoboku."

The room was silent.

"Are you saying that I should try summoning?"

"I am saying, my child, that it might not be as hopeless as you think it is" The old man explained in a kind voice, like he was speaking to a wailing child that had dropped their ice cream. His voice turned a bit more serious as he continued. "Why aren't you using the rasengan?"

Natsumi looked at the man like he had lost his mind. Was he seriously asking her such a stupid question?

"What do you mean why?" She yelled in frustration, "People will ask how I know it. Uzumaki Natsumi has no right to know the fourth's signature jutsu!"

Deep down it devastated Natsumi. The rasengan was one of the few things that connected her to her father. She had trained hard to learn it and even harder to complete it... something even her father had been unable to do... something she knew he had been proud of her for. She hated not being able to use it.

"Why not?" Hiruzen asked, once again making her think that he was getting at something but she seriously had no idea what the man was thinking. "You trained with Jiraiya after all, and Minato left all of his techniques to be shared with his family or any other shinobi deemed worthy by the current Hokage."

"...But..."

"Use every technique in your arsenal, Natsumi." The man's voice turned from kind to firm and unrelenting. "You know you are going to need it in the future."

Natsumi remained quiet before replying. "People will talk."

"Let them. You have had people talk about you your whole life, have you not?"

It was true, of course... and people were bound to talk after today's meeting. Would it really be OK to use the rasengan even though 'Natsumi' was not blood related to Minato? Somehow she did not think it was. The rasengan was Naruto's technique to master, it was no longer hers.

"I do not think it is a smart plan."

The Hokage almost snapped his pipe. The Uzumaki's deep depression was affecting her ability to think clearly. "It is better than you getting yourself or Kakashi killed because you are disabling yourself!" He berated her. "You are strong, Natsumi. Stop being so scared of being noticed here! You came back to help us, not to become a wall flower. Stand out like you always have. Konoha needs your strength now more than ever... After this meeting I order you to attend grief counseling, you have been unable to deal with your grief alone."

"No one here could possibly understand what it is like to lose everything!" Natsumi yelled at the man with tears streaming down her face. How could he possibly understand what she was going through? She was the Hokage and she failed to protect her people...

"Uchiha Sasuke lost his whole family!" Hiruzen yelled back. He never yelled at his subordinates but there was absolutely no way he was going to allow Natsumi to become another Tsunade. "Kakashi lost his family and his team, the only people he has ever cared for..." The aging leader took a calming breath before continuing. "Inoichi lived through exactly what you have been through. I will arrange for you to meet him whenever you are in the village."

Natsumi turned her back on the old man, tears streaming down her face. "He has seen enough of my world. I don't want to bother him with any more of my troubles."

"This is an order, Uzumaki." The Sandaime commanded before softening his voice, "Besides, I believe he needs to speak to someone about it as well. So does Shikaku."

Natsumi bowed her head in resignation, wiping the tears from her face as she remembered the sickened looking Inoichi walking home that day to hug his daughter and wife. The fact that Kurama agreed with the Hokage helped push her to the edge... she was currently not doing her people's sacrifices any favors. "Hai, Hokage-sama." She answered in a soft voice.

"Good. Now remember the plan. The council awaits us."

* * *

When Hokage pair arrived at the meeting room the council members were all already seated, quietly muttering among themselves. They fell silent and stood as the Hokage entered, bowing respectfully before seating themselves again. Curious eyes fell on Natsumi but no one brought it up. It would be discussed soon enough.

Sarutobi took his seat at the far end of the table while Natsumi stood on his right hand side.

"Good Morning, Council members." Sarutobi greeted, starting the meeting. "I have asked you to gather here today in full for a number of reasons. Each an every one of these are linked to a single secret that I have kept from the village for the past ten years."

The council room was silent. Danzou's gaze sharpened at the mention of a secret. His gaze flickered to Natsumi for a moment before focusing back on his old friend.

"As we all know, ten years ago the village was attacked by the Kyuubi." Sarutobi continued, lacing his fingers and resting his elbows on the table. "That night, the Yondaime sealed the beast into a new born boy, hereby creating a jinchuuriki, sacrificing his life in the process." The Hokage ignored the bristling in the room. " Today, I have come to inform you that this is a lie."

The council was in shock.

Several members made to interrupt the Hokage but the man lifted his hand in a stop signal, forbidding interruption.

Danzou's visible eye narrowed even further.

"Yondaime-sama did not create one jinchuuriki, as he deemed the power too vast to be help by one single person. Instead he split the beast's chakra in half and sealed both halves into two separate individuals, hereby creating two jinchuuriki."

With that, all hell broke lose.

"WHAT!?"

Several people spoke at once.

"What do you mean two!?"

"Who was the other individual?"

"Why was this kept from us, Hiruzen?"

"Is this person in the village?"

"There is another demon!?Kill them both!"

The last remark came from the civilian representative, his eyes blazing with anger.

That was the last word spoken. The room quickly became saturated with an incredibly strong killing intent. The shinobi members became tense, surveying the room for the possible threat. Shikaku face palmed with a sigh while Inoichi looked at the civilian with disgust before sending Natsumi an apologetic look. The civilian was shaking as he looked at Natsumi, his eyes wide with fear.

The Uzumaki had her head down, her eyes hidden behind her bangs, her hands were clenched into tight fists.

"Isoo-san, speak of them like that again and I shall see to it that you never sell a single thing in this village again, after a visit to Ibiki-san and Anko-san, of course." The Hokage addressed the civilian who was now trying his best not to lose control of his bladder, before turning his attention the Natsumi. "Natsumi-san, stand down."

The oppressive force in the air lifted. The red head took a calming breath and relaxed her hands,

"Forgive me, Hokage-sama." She replied, bowing slightly to the old man before lifting her chin, showing her full face to the council, her blue eyes cold and sharp.

The Hokage faced the council again. The shinobi council members were now openly staring at Natsumi with interest, their guard up at the show of power. Danzou was looking from Natsumi to the Hokage with curiosity.

"Is this woman the other jinchuuriki, Hiruzen?" The old war hawk inquired.

Hiruzen locked eyes with his old friend before nodding.

"Yes, this is Uzumaki Natsumi." The old village leader replied."She is the sister of the late Uzumaki Kushina, our previous jinchuuriki, and thereby the aunt of Uzumaki Naruto, our other jinchuuriki."

"Forgive me, Hokage-sama," Hiashi interrupted with a frown, "My late wife was good friends with Uzumaki Kushina. We were lead to believe that her whole family perished with the fall of Uzushiogakure."

The Sandaime replied with a nod of confirmation, "Yes, we believed that Kushina's family had been lost completely. Uzu was destroyed completely and it was quite difficult to identify all of the dead. A lot of people had even been reduced to ash. Natsumi was only four years old at the time of the fall and although her mother and father had died, she miraculously survived. She was found some ways outside Uzushiogakure and was placed in an orphanage where she stayed for ten years. It was by chance that my student Jiraiya found her on his travels. As you can see, she looks a great deal like he sister so Jiraiya brought her to Konoha on a hunch, where she re-united and moved in with Kushina."

"And? Where has she been since then?" Koharu asked impatiently.

"I would like to know as well." Aburame Shibi spoke up, startling the man he sat next to. " Why? Because I believe Konoha could have used the strength of another jinchuuriki and another Uzumaki."

"She left the day after being sealed in order to train to control the kyuubi." Sarutobi explained.

"Why was she not trained in the village as the boy is?" Danzou asked. " I myself, would have been able to train her personally to control her power and protect Konoha."

"She had not had any training as a shinobi when the sealing took place, therefore it would have been a great risk for her to train here while her chakra coils were still adjusting. There was the possibility that she would lose control and destroy the village, therefore I ordered Jiraiya to train her elsewhere."

"So the reason you did not inform us was to protect her." Shikaku lazily stated. It wasn't really a question.

"Yes."

"What do you mean?" Tsume asked, staring over at the Nara.

"Troublesome..." The scarred man sighed as he stroked his beard, eyes closed. "If he told anyone and the information got leaked, she and Jiraiya-sama would have been attacked often. As a main branch member of the Uzumaki clan and a jinchuuriki, other nations would have hunted her relentlessly. She would have been under even more stress and therefore it would have lead to a greater possibility of her losing control."

"Ah ...Ok" The wild woman sat back, a frown still on her brow, "So why was she chosen then? There were many new born children available."

"She was chosen because she is an Uzumaki."

"I don't get it."

Hyuuga Hiashi answered the question like he was reciting from a text book ."The Uzumaki clan were once very well known for their vitality and huge chakra reserves. This, in combination with the other properties of their chakra allow them to be the ideal hosts for tailed beasts. An Uzumaki would have the greatest chance of controlling the beast's chakra without harming themselves..."

There were many more questions and arguments. The meeting dragged on and Natsumi was getting impatient and annoyed. They spoke like she wasn't even there... And they kept calling Kurama "the beast" or "the demon". He seemed to be used to it but it was grating on Natsumi's last nerves. She did not speak out or lose her temper though. Sarutobi had spoken to her before they had walked through the door and ordered her not to lose control or interrupt no matter what. Of course, she had slipped when the civilian had called Naruto a demon but the Sandaime had let that slide. The look he had given her afterward however, stated that more interruptions from her might cause the whole plan to fall apart... So she kept her cool, even though it was getting harder to do so with every passing minute.

* * *

"So, why was she gone so long?" Shikaku eventually interrupted another stupid question that would most likely have sent the council into another hour of debate. "It should not have taken her ten years to gain control."

"Ah..." Sarutobi sighed, secretly thanking the Nara for saving them from another hour of torture. "Yes, Natsumi completed her training a few years ago. She was given the rank of Jonin due to the absolute control she had gained over her beast. She was up until that point, not known at all throughout the elemental nations. Therefore, I had her gather useful information from everywhere... This is the reason that she has returned. She has found information stating that the person who orchestrated the Kyuubi attack ten years ago has now formed a group exclusively out of S ranked missing-nin. They are currently leading the world into the Forth Great Ninja war. That is not the worst of it, however. They plan to gather every single one of the tailed beasts and use the combined power to create a weapon. This weapon will be strong enough to destroy a nation in a second."

Danzou sat up straighter in his seat. As much as he hated Hiruzen's way of ruling, he knew the man would not bring this up unless it was a genuine threat. "Who is the leader of this group?" He asked, curious of who could possibly be strong enough to lead a group of such strong nuke-nin and force a tailed beast to attack.

"The group's name is Akatsuki. The man who is leading them...", Sarutobi straightened his shoulders, readying himself for what was coming next. "is Uchiha Madara."

Every single council member stilled, their faces paled.

Even Danzou looked shaken.

"Uchiha Madara died years ago. Even if he survived The Valley of End, there is no way he could still be alive." The war hawk replied with a carefully masked voice.

The Sandaime rubbed at his temples. "Madara did not die at the valley of end. Somehow, he managed to survive. He also managed to gain some of the Shodaime's cells. I am not quite sure how, but somehow, he managed to merge with these cells. This has allowed him to become, as I understand it, untouched by age. I do believe though, that he can still be killed."

There was silence as everyone tried to process the idea of Uchiha Madara alive and out for blood.

Shikaku cursed under his breath, "We are going to have to prepare. When will things start moving?"

"The Akatsuki is still gaining power so I believe they have two tailed beasts so far, but the last one was captured recently. They will have to wait at least two years before they can extract another demon."

"At least we have some time ..." Shikaku sat up straight and started making notes of what needed to be done to ready the village.

"I suggest that the academy gets moved into a war time curriculum" Koharu piped up, "The next generation of shinobi will have to be strong and capable."

"I disagree," Shibi spoke up again, "This is because the war time curriculum shall only trouble the other nations. If they believe we are preparing for war, they might attack us. This will result in a weakening of both sides, no matter the outcome. This will result in the Akatsuki being able to gather the beasts more easily."

Shikaku smirked, sometimes Shibi surprised him with his foresight.

"I agree with Shibi-san, Hokaga-sama. We should rather just change the curriculum, making it look like we are simply upgrading our teaching methods instead of preparing for war."

"What about my daughter?" Isoo the civilian asked. "She is having a hard enough time in the academy as it is."

"Do you want your child dead, Isoo-san?" Hiashi asked with an ice cold glare.

"No of course not!"

"Well then, don't complain. If your daughter cannot handle the simple academy program that is currently active, she wont survive being a kunoichi." Hiashi shifted his white gaze to the Hokage. "Hokage-sama, may I suggest that we completely restructure the kunoichi program? The current subjects being taught are rather... disappointing."

"What do you mean, Hiashi-san?"

"Flower arrangement is not going to benefit the girls on the battle field. I confess myself disappointed in how the academy has taught my daughter and from what I have seen, the other girls are more interested in boys than they are in training." He explained with a sneer, tempted to look over at Inoichi, "I suggest that selected strong jonin kunoichi from different professions regularly teach the female students real skills that they will need, becoming some form of role models for the girls."

Hiruzen raised his eyebrows in pleasant surprise. "You have good suggestions, Hiashi-san. I believe it would be a good idea for the boys to also interact with some battlefield troops... Maybe I could issue these lessons as low ranked missions... however I doubt any jonin would actually do them..." The Hokage's voice faded as he thought about the problem

"What if you get the shinobi on medical leave teach the brats?" Tsume spoke up, " That way the little buggers will see being a shinobi is no fairytale. It will also give the injured bastards a form of income."

There was a moment of thoughtful silence from the room.

"That's a brilliant idea Tsume-san. Thank you." The Hokage smiled at the idea. It was simple and it would be effective. "Also, I think that Naruto-kun should start training to control the kyuubi as soon as possible. If they come after him, he will have to be ready. "

Danzou nodded, seeing an opportunity "I agree, I volunteer to help Naruto-kun personally."

"Thank you Danzou," Hiruzen thanked Donzou with a smile and a slight incline of his head before continuing, "but I believe his aunt has a much better understanding of being a jinchuuriki than anyone else in the village will ever be. Therefore I will assign his jinchuuriki training to Natsumi. Also, I will allow Naruto-kun to be adopted by Natsumi so that she can protect him. She is his last remaining family after all."

Danzou's face faltered, another powerful weapon about to fall through his fingers, but he could not press the Sandaime in this. Natsumi was the only person who had actual experience in the field. It made sense to have him teach her... If she had complete control.

"How sure are you that she has complete control?"

The Hokage smirked.

"Natsumi-san, would you please demonstrate your control?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Natsumi brought her hands together in a ram seal and closed her eyes in concentration.

'_Kurama?'_

"**Yeah, yeah..."**

The red-headed Uzumaki was suddenly surrounded in a golden glow, nine tails waving behind her. She opened her eyes, revealing them to have turned gold as well.

All around the room wooden furniture started growing, sprouting leaves, surprising everyone except Shikaku, Inoichi and the Hokage. Even the three people who knew what would happen studied the growing furniture with awe.

"Mokuton..." The whisper traveled around the room, wide eyed shinobi inspecting the new growths.

"No, this is not Mokuton." Natsumi clarified in a calm voice, returning to her normal appearance. "This is the Kyuubi's chakra when controlled. It is simply filled with a lot of life force."

"There," the Sandaime's smirk widened into a pleasant smile. " As you can see Danzou, she has perfect control."

Danzou was forced to agree. "What if however, under the stress of attack, she loses control?"

"I have partnered her with Hatake Kakashi for future missions. He will be able to protect her and, if need be, subdue the Kyuubi with his sharingan."

Danzou had wanted one of his Ne operatives with her but he supposed the Hatake brat would be good enough with his sharingan.

Shikaku looked away from his notepad, placing his pen back in his pocket as he leaned back.

"There are a lot of preparations we will need to get started on now, Hokage-sama. The most important, I think, is that we are going to need Tsunade-sama back in the village to train more med-nin."

Sarutobi sighed. "I would love for Tsunade to return but I doubt anyone will be able to convince her to come willingly. I can't force her to teach anything."

"It won't be easy, but I think Uzumaki-san here might be able to convince her. They are distantly related, after all."

Sarutobi looked over to Natsumi with a contemplative face. It was all for show, of course, they had discussed all of this before hand... the council did not know that though.

"Very well, it's worth a try. You and Kakahi-san will leave tomorrow at 0600." He addressed Natsumi. "You may go make preparations for the mission, dismissed."

Natsumi bowed to the Hokage before calmly walking out the door. As soon as the door was shut behind her she let out a sigh of relief. The meeting may have been a success but it seriously took forever. As she walked away a small smile formed behind her scarf. Finally, she could properly adopt Naruto.

* * *

**A.N **

**Hey guys, a bit of a longer chapter... Hope you like it. **Please let me know what you think :)****

**I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone that has reviewed. You guys are awesome! I appreciate all the suggestions and everything that i have gotten and it has really motivated me to work faster. I also want to say THANK YOU to everyone that has Favorited or is following... 528 followers and 381 favorites... you guys are awesome. I never imagined my first story would get this far. Thank you again. **

**Namikaze Kakashi**


	10. Chapter 10

**I do not own Naruto**

**A Past Retold - Chapter 9**

* * *

"He he he..."

Jiraiya chuckled as he took notes. He was currently hunched behind a bush, shamelessly spying on some civilian girls that were dealing with the heat of the day by playing around in the mountain springs. The scene would be perfect for his book that was currently in progress. His fans would praise him even more after the publication... A story of a strong young shinobi and all the beautiful woman he came across on his many travels. Perhaps the main female character would this time be a care free, innocent, civilian maiden who needs to be protected from the dark and dangerous world...

The white haired pervert giggled as he imagined a mountain stream scene... where the maiden and her close friends would take a break from the hot day, but in the rush to get to the stream they forget their bathing suits and...

Jiraiya's concentration wavered as the brunette girl suddenly started looking around, making sure they were alone before informing her friends that she didn't want tan lines. The toad sage could hardly believe his luck as the girl made to remove her bikini top... Making sure he could not be seen he leaned in closer, finding the absolute perfect vantage point.

Suddenly he felt a familiar tug on his being before he vanished in a silent puff of smoke.

The familiar landscape of Mount Myoboku revealed itself as the chakra smoke cleared. Jiraiya blinked as he took in his bearings.

"NO!" He moaned in absolute despair, "No No No take me back!" Tears were actually forming in the man's eyes as he begged the small toad sage in front of him.

The toad raised one of his bushy white eyebrows as he studied the man in front of him. "Jiraiya-chan? Whats tha matter?"

Jiraiya crawled forward until he was at the toad's webbed feet, making the best puppy dog eyes he could muster.

"Fukasaku-sama!... I was in the middle of some important research! I must return at once!"

_Smack_

The old toad whacked the sannin on the head with his favorite bludgeon. "Pay at'ntion ya idiot! This's more important th'n spyin on women!"

The childish look on Jiraiya's face faded into a more serious expression as he rubbed the new bump on his head. He straightened himself and dusted the dirt from his clothes before addressing the old sage.

" So you say, Fukasaku-sama... But I know you simply can't wait for the next edition to come out..."

For a moment Fukasaku was grateful that his green skin made it nearly impossible for anyone to ever see him blush. With a quick shake of his head the toad focused his mind on the issues at hand.

"Jiraiya-chan, I summ'ned yer here because we have some very important business to discuss. It involves tha prophesied child."

"What do you mean, Fukasaku-sama? Minato died..." Jiraiya's voice faded towards the end. Minato was very much like a son to him. The boy was such a bright and kind-hearted child. He didn't change at all in that aspect as he grew into a strong and respected young man. The youngest ever to be named a Kage so far. It was still too agonizing to think too much about him.

"It turns out tha child was never Minato-chan..." The sage turned around with a slow hop, heading to his house with a somber expression. "Let's go inside, there is someone yer must meet."

Jiraiya silently followed Fukasaku to his home, quietly lost in his sorrows he got on his hands and knees to be able to enter the small door.

"Jiraiya-chan," Fukasaku addressed him as he came through the door. He had been in Fukasaku's house many times and the place had not changed at all since he had last been here. The only surprise was a red haired young woman sitting at the far end of the room. She looked almost exactly like Kushina... His heart clenched at the thought of the fiery woman that Minato was so crazy for...

"This is Naruto-chan."

* * *

The next day Naruto yawned as he entered the kitchen, running his hand through his golden spikes and worsening his bad case of bed head. He wiped the slight drool from his chin as his gaze focused on the letter left on the kitchen counter.

_Heya Squirt_

_I'm off on that mission I told you about last night. Just reminding you in case you forgot... I'll be gone for quite some time unfortunately... probably a month or two. I might come home sooner but I doubt it. _

_Also, as you know you are now officially adopted by me. So we are now family by paper as well as blood. That means you can live in the flat. I have already moved most of your stuff from your apartment. All that it left is some old furniture. If you want those too you should go talk to the old man, he will arrange for it to get moved..._

_Ok, so since I will be gone for a while, which I really am super sorry about, I have composed a list type thing that I would like you to follow... They aren't rules... but suggestions that I strongly encourage you to follow if you want to be Hokage... which I know you do..._

_First :Keep training and remember to keep working on your chakra control. Its boring I know, but it will make learning awesome techniques so much easier._

_Second: Go to classes. A Hokage needs to know all about the village laws and history. If not to listen to the "boring" classes, then at least to interact with your peers. They will be your future team mates after all. It's a good plan to be on their good side. Also, I have a hunch that classes are going to get a lot more exciting soon, although I can't say much about that._

_Third: I have arranged for the Ichiraku's to make some meals for you. This will not be ramen. I know you hate veggies but not eating them is what is making you so short. (It's true I promise) These meals will only be three times a week though. Please go? Think of it as a form of training. It "trains" your body to be healthier, stronger and grow faster. The rest of the week you can eat ramen... although it would make me happy if you could eat a fruit every now and again as well... I've left some in a scroll in the kitchen. Its one of those special ones that keeps everything fresh inside._

_Forth: Don't worry about me. If you think I'm taking too long you can go ask the old man if there is any news. He will be able to tell you if I'm on my way home yet or still busy._

_Well I suppose that's it..._

_Once again I'm really sorry for leaving you alone for so long. I promise to make it up to you when I get back. You can think of something you would like us to do together?_

_Love you Naruto, Don't get into too much trouble. Oh! That reminds me! I thing it might be a good idea for you to keep pranking people. Don't just do normal pranks though... Think of it as infiltration training... or training in setting traps. You must not be noticed at all when setting the trap and you must not leave any evidence that could possibly link it back to you. That means you can't brag about it either. _

_Have fun and see you soon_

_Love _

_Natsumi_

The blond jinchuuriki groaned at the idea of eating vegetables. He seriously doubted the fact that veggies would actually help him grow taller. His aunt hated eating greens just as much as he did.

Going to class also caused a scowl to show on his face.

It made sense though, a Hokage should know about the village he was leading...

By the time he reached the end of the letter though he had a wicked smirk and a mischievous glint in his eyes. He could hardly wait to start pranking people. He couldn't believe that his aunt actually encouraged him to do so... aren't parents supposed to tell their kids not to break the rules? Well, he certainly didn't mind. He already had some would be victims to attack-no prank.

With a half-hearted groan he started getting ready for the academy. He had originally planned on skipping class in favor of training; but it was probably a better idea to go... Maybe he could even convince Iruka-sensei to teach him a new chakra control exercise …. According to his new sealing book, he would need good chakra control in order to become a master. Perhaps not as good as medic's but it would need to be much better than average in any case..

Half an hour later the ten year old was rushing to leave for the academy. He hesitated for a moment at the door before blitzing back to the kitchen to grab a couple of fruits for lunch. A few seconds later he was running down the street straight to the academy, a small smile tugging on his lips, determination and mischief clearly shining in his bright blue eyes.

* * *

The few minutes of waiting before class actually started was the usual loud affair of girls fighting to sit next to their _precious_ Uchiha hair. Naruto rolled his eyes at their attempts, it was pretty obvious that the bastard was gay. The girls were seriously wasting their time.

Moments later a rather frazzled Iruka hurried through the door with heaps of scrolls and papers in his hands. He dumped the load on his desk before hushing the class.

"Ok kids, I have some pretty important announcements to make about the class plans from now on out." He stated, running a seemingly shaking hand through his pony tail. Naruto almost tuned him out.

While he had been making an effort to pay a bit more attention in class, class planning was never something he thought was worth paying attention to. He would find out what they were doing when they were doing it, no need to know about it before hand. However the fact that his aunt had mentioned a possible change had him listening with one ear as he continued to read his sealing notes.

"The whole academy curriculum has been changed by order of the council. From today on-wards everything will run in a very different way."

The blond raised on interested eyebrow, closing his book to pay closer attention. The action of sitting up straighter and listening a bit closer was adopted by many in the class. It was not often that things changed much. The last time the academy curriculum changed it was in order to accommodate for a war; there was no war brewing as far as the students knew though.

"This specific class plans have never been done before but I have the utmost confidence that you will be able to pull it off. It will not be easy. Classes will start at the usual time but formal classroom lectures will finish at lunch time." There were a few excited murmurs from the class. Only half a day of school? What could be better? Shikamaru however frowned and seemed to start listening even closer to what the instructor was saying.

" After lunch boys and girls will split up." A collective grown went through the class. No half days after all. Some of the girls were practically sobbing at the thought of being separated from the Uchiha. The dark haired boy in question seemed a bit relieved though. The tension in his shoulders might have even lessened a bit, but Naruto couldn't be sure. The bastard was so stiff and stuck up the whole time it was a miracle he could actually walk without irritating the enormous stick up his ass.

"Boys will focus on strength and fitness training while girls will focus on infiltration, seduction and field first aid. This will not always be the focus of the two groups but that will be discussed later. These specialized classes will continue until 17:00. After this you will work in teams for two hours at least."

-What!?-

\- can't expect us to still train -

-arent't machines-

-unfair-

-like to see you train that long -

Iruka banged the board eraser on his desk to regain order. "This is what is expected of you. If you are not up to it then you will be forced to drop out and become normal civilians. With that the class quieted down, a few of the civilian born looking slightly uneasy.

"These teams will be assigned every week." Iruka continued, "Each individual in these teams will have to instruct their team mates in a specific area. These area's will also be assigned to you. They might change over time, after each and every student is proficient in each of the areas assigned. You will be graded on how well your _team mates_ have improved in _your_ area within a week..."

With that the Uchiha scoffed "Why should I be graded on everyone else's incompetence?"

"Teaching others is a sure way to improve oneself." Iruka explained patiently, "The grading also motivates you to do your best and it teaches you to work as a team. As I said, this will not be a walk in the park. You are all going to have to pull your weight and work in cohesion with each other. Team work is what has always made Konoha the strongest of the big five. If you all work hard at this there is a strong chance that you will graduate early and as the strongest year that has ever graduated from this academy. Any questions?"

Sasuke seemed a bit more at ease after hearing there was an option to graduate early. If he could start training seriously sooner then all the better for his goals.

For once the Nara heir did not look like he was about to fall asleep. "Why is the council ordering this?" The spiky haired hidden genius almost demanded. It was quite different to see the boy so focused in something.

With that Iruka sighed and shook his head slightly. "I was not told of the reasoning behind the decisions. I was simply called in this morning, along with the other academy instructors and given the new plans."

"Are we going to war?"

The room was silent. Naruto's eyes widened, as did every other student, even the Uchiha. The beginnings of fear and panic swept through the room.

"No," Iruka explained with a calm, steady voice. " I am not sure why the changes are taking place but we have been assured that there is no war brewing."

A collective sigh of relief passed over the room as everyone let out the breath they had been holding.

"How will teams be decided?" A civilian boy asked a few moments later.

"The teams are assigned so that every student will have been in a team with every other student at some point or another. After a full cycle has been completed you will be tested in every area that you have been taught by your peers and if you are all up to standard each team will be assigned to a chuunin or jonin for that week and they will teach you in their specialties."

"Um, Iruka-sensei?" Sakura piped up, "Where is Mizuki-Sensei?"

Naruto looked around the room. It was true, the white haired man was not to be seen. It was rather odd because he was always on time.

Iruka frowned like he was contemplating on how to answer the question.

" He no longer works at the academy." He replied eventually.

"Why?"

"He is currently being questioned on his loyalty to the village." The chuunin instructor looked very uneasy and changed the subject with a certain finality in his tone. "Now if there are no further questions on the lesson plans, I would like to read out this weeks teams."

The ten year old shinobi trainees shared a look of unease. Mizuki-sensei was being tried for treason. The academy was changing into a war-time-like schedule. This was not what they were expecting when they walked into class this morning.

"Team one will be Hyuuga Hinata, Haruno Sakura and Aburane Shino. Hinata, your area will be Chakra control, Sakura will do village history and chakra theories. Shino you will focus on misdirection and stealth..." and so the teams were assigned. The class was still pretty large for an academy class and naming the teams took time.

"Team five will be Inuzuka Kiba with tracking, Yamanaka Ino with infiltration and Akimich Choji with on field nutrition. Team six will be Uchiha Sasuke in shuriken jutsu, Uzumaki Naruto with trapping and Nara Shikamaru with strategy and mission planning..."

After that they were told to move to share desks with their temporary team mates. There was a lot of shuffling but not really a lot of talking, everyone was still too confused at the whole business.

Sasuke made no indication that he was going to move from his current seat so Naruto and Shikamaru walked over to him.

Naruto ended up between the Nara and the Uchiha, neither of which looked very happy at the situation. Shikamaru was awake and alert for once. He seemed to be trying to figure out why everything was changing. Sasuke just brooded like he usually did, but with a slightly deeper frown.

Naruto looked between his team mates with a sigh.

"Well this sucks big hairy baboon balls."

Shikamaru chuckled at the vulgar language, his expression morphing back into the usual lazy look. Even Sasuke jolted a bit in surprise.

"You can say that again."

"Hn."

What followed was the hardest and most demanding lectures Naruto had ever experienced. There was no room for day-dreaming or goofing around. Their chuunin instructor regularly drilled the basics from random students to make sure they had been listening.

Iruka-sensei was on edge and everybody could see it. Change was usually not a good thing in a shinobi village. It was a rare day where every student listened and took notes. Well Naruto listened, he was not too big on the taking notes. Shikamaru had adopted a slightly more interested expression a but was not taking notes either.

Sasuke scoffed at them. His team mates were the two dead lasts. They weren't even taking notes. He was seriously not impressed with the whole idea of actually having to teach them things.

The morning passed slowly. The ten-year-old's were not used to sitting still and paying attention for that long. At least Iruka gave them ten minute breaks every hour just so that they could get a bit of fresh air and stretch their legs a bit.

When lunch finally arrived the kids bolted for the grounds outside. Some fresh air and sunshine was drastically needed.

* * *

Kakashi was content. He was speeding through the trees with his new partner. Uzumaki had not spoken a word since they left the village at 06:00 but it was not an awkward silence, it was more of a … focused on the mission silence. The type of silence that surrounds people that have nothing to share and they are absolutely fine with it.

Well, that was how he felt in any case. His partner had a carefree look on her face. She seemed to be pretty content as well, sometimes closing her eyes to enjoy the wind blowing through her hair.

The day had started out pretty slow. They met up at the gates at the specified time (Kakashi was rarely late for a proper mission), politely greeted each other before quickly formulating a plan of action.

The mission was to find Senju Tsunade-Hime of the sannin and convince her to return to the village. Step one was obviously to find the woman. This would not be an easy task as she was a brilliant and experienced kunoichi whom did not want to be found. She would have taken precautions against ninken tracking, therefore he could not use his pack. He had tried of course. Pakkun had very seriously (and not so kindly) told him to find the slug woman himself before giving Uzumaki an odd look and then returning from where he had come from. Luckily the kunoichi had a slightly more useful source of information.

She summoned a toad and requested that he go ask Jiraiya if he had heard anything from Tsunade's whereabouts lately. The toad had dutifully reappeared a few moments later. Apparently, the last time Jiraiya-sama had heard the princess had been spotted on the edge of the land of fire. That part of the country was notoriously well known for gang activity. Unfortunately that tip was three weeks ago and it would take about a week to get there. There was no way the woman was still there, but at least they had a lead. With a short discussion of what route would be best they set off.

* * *

Kakashi was the team leader in this situation so he had the biggest say in when they would stop for a break and what pace they would be taking. His partner had not complained at the pace he had been setting yet though, even though it was a bit fast. She seemed to be completely at ease, as if she could go faster without a problem. That suited him just fine. The faster they got to the next point the better.

A few hours later they had made good time. With a normal team they would have only covered three quarters of the distance they had already traveled within the same amount of time and they would probably have been quite exhausted. Kakashi himself was running on fumes. He signaled that they were to make camp.

It was late afternoon, the warm sun filtering through the trees, giving the leaves a golden appearance. Natsumi had set up the tent while Kakashi headed out to look for food. There was only one tent. Only one person would be able to sleep at a time in any case as the other kept watch. About an hour later Kakashi was roasting fish while Natsumi stretched and relaxed on the ground.

"Here." Kakashi handed Uzumaki her share of the roasted fish. It one of the few spoken words between them that day. He had mostly relied on signals for communication but seeing as they had come this far, he decided to cut the kunoichi some slack. He might have been a bit hard on her at their training session a few days ago. While it was true that her taijutsu was atrocious, at least she had the stamina to make up for it.

Her taijutsu in general did not make any sense. The style seemed like it was missing something, like she was used to having a weapon of some kind that would generate a lot of damage after one hit. She had not once made to use the weapon though. Perhaps she had lost it after that mission she was on went wrong.

In general, there was a lot about her that did not make sense. She appeared out of no where. She was close to no one. No one had known who she was before she appeared in that crater. Her taijutsu was missing something. She seemed to be holding back, hiding things from everyone, especially him. Her face was always hard to read, a mask almost permanently in place. She interacted with no one other than Naruto, and even then she was hiding things from him. She was a kunoichi though. Everyone in their profession had secrets that they would rather not share, she simply seemed to take it a bit far, Not that he was one to talk though.

The red head smiled and took her fish. It was the first time he had ever seen her smile properly, her scarf pooled around her neck, exposing her whiskered cheeks and soft pink lips. She had quite an exotic look about her. The smile seemed to make her look years younger. It only lasted a fraction of a second though. She seemed to do a double take as she met his eye. Her eyes flashed through a series of emotions. Surprise, grief, sadness, longing and eventually outrage and a deep, dark hatered. She masked her emotions quickly though. It had happened so fast that most jonin would have missed it. Her face formed into a smile once again, even if it did not quite reach her eyes. She thanked him kindly before she nibbled at her fish quietly as Kakashi stored the expressions he had just seen in his mental file of things about his partner. He silently pondered if she had recently lost a partner that he had reminded her of.

Natsumi was now studying him quite intently. She had finished her fish a while ago and was now simply nibbling on the stick.

With a sigh she discarded the piece of wood.

"I have not been completely honest with you." She admitted, closing her eyes and massaging her temples as she spoke.

"Hn?"

Her calculating blue gaze settled on him again. With a sigh she held out her hand and for a split second the Jonin was confused. Then chakra started forming visually, spinning faster and faster in the palm of her hand, forming a tight blue ball that seemed to be composed of a hurricane of chakra.

"_Rasengan._"

* * *

**A.N**

**Hey guys... I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Thank you so much to my reviewers, you guys are awesome.**

**NB**

**Is there anyone that would be interested in being my beta? It would be greatly appreciated if someone could help me out a bit.**

**Here are some notes to what has happened in the chapter. **

**Jiraiya and the toads. This will be explained in the next chapter. You can rest assured now though that Jiraiya knows exactly what is going on and who Natsumi really is. He will be returning to the village eventually though.**

**The academy changes. These teams are not permanent and in no way are these team placements going to carry through to gennin teams.**

**The next chapter will focus a lot on Natsumi and Kakashi. Stay tuned to see how that will turn out.**

**Other than that I would like to say thank you to those reviewer that have given me constructive criticism. I know that it has been a bit slow going but hopefully things will start to heat up a bit soon. **

**To guest: You bring up an excellent point and I have never thought about flower arrangement in such depth before. Ill make sure it is not completely cut from the program, but maybe a bit more focused instead of girls just running around with flowers.**

**To Erydanes: The scene you wanted will happen in the next chapter. As you could probably see that it already happened, it will be a bit more of a flash back.**

**I have not replied to all my reviewers and I apologize for that. I don't have a proper internet connection at the moment,so there are going to be a few delays unfortionately. I will have proper internet once I return to varsity though (in February. It's summer vacation this side of the world.)**

**Thank you so much for reading, and PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! I LOVE HEARING FROM YOU GUYS!. If you have any problems or issues or ideas, please let me know. Criticism is welcome :)**

**NK**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys... Sorry its so late**

**A Past Retold - Chapter 11**

**A BIG thank you to my Beta for this chapter Barefoot Ranger**

* * *

The light slowly faded from a light blue to a happy orange pink as Natsumi kept watch in the early morning hours. It was a beautiful morning. The birds where just starting to chirp cheerfully, some freely stretching their wings in the crisp morning air.

A truly peaceful scene spread before the Uzumaki as she slowly tilted her head from side to side, working out a complaining muscle, her arms stretched up above her head, fingers interlinked..

The sky was brightening quickly now. The forest animals becoming increasingly active. The forest itself spread out endlessly in all directions, following the curves of the mountainous layout of the land. Wisps of low laying clouds bristling the tips of the higher trees off in the distance. There were a few normal clouds in the sky as well, lazily floating by, gradually changing from an orange hue to a lighter white.

Natsumi could see it all perfectly from her perch on one of the taller trees. With a sigh she dropped her arms to her side feeling the rough bark beneath her fingertips. She closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath, tasting the air around her. Shikamaru would have loved this picture. A soft smile decorated her uncovered features as she thought about her lazy, spiky pony-tailed, genius right hand man. They often sat together during the rare free time they had during the war. They would just watch the skies, getting lost in the clouds floating by. The scene was never quite as relaxing as it should have been though. Clouds of black smoke almost always mixed with the innocent white, bringing back the hard realities that were present in their lives. War infiltrated everything... even the skies.

She missed him.

His lazy manor and sarcastic, laid back humour.

He was a good man... He would have made the most amazing fa...

Natsumi shook her head sharply, slapping her cheeks sharply to shake the thoughts from her mind. She should not be thinking of these things now... She was on a mission.

She watched the skies brighten with a determinedly blank mind, refusing to think about the war or the past, simply enjoying the view.

A few moments of silent passed.

Kakashi appeared from the depths of the forest with the silent grace of a well trained assassin, setting into a relaxed crouch beside her. Only his shoulders gave away how tense he was, the rest of his body was the picture of relaxation and laziness. Even his shoulders were not easy to notice... had she not trained with the man for years and been fluent in Kakashi-ese Natsumi would have missed it herself.

They sat in silence for several minutes, watching the skies together.

"_Rasengan"_

The swirling blue ball of energy rotated in Kakashi's palm.

Neither of them said a word as the technique faded into nothing. It was definitely not an apology, but it held a similar weight.

The silver haired assassin straightened up, placing both hands in his pockets. "Let's go."

"Hn." Natsumi sighed, she was spending too much time with vocabulary challenged people. They set off at a fast pace, the forest becoming a blur of green as they flashed by. She stared at Kakashi's back as he took point position. He was still mad at her but she could probably deal with that at a later date. First they had to find Tsunade.

* * *

To say that Kakashi was furious would be an understatement. The fact that the red-head knew Minato-sensei's technique was bad enough, but she actually incorporated it into her fighting style, like she owned it... It was like she was mocking his legacy.

Minato-sensei had worked tirelessly for years to master it and even then it was not yet complete. It was his legacy, the only person who would have the right to use it like that would be his son, Naruto. His apparent sister-in-law, who hardly knew him, had absolutely no claim.

Flashback

"_Rasengan"_

Nothing moved.

The forest animals remained silent under the heavy atmospheric pressure, sensing the dangerous aura surrounding the two humans. Even the wind stilled, leaving the forest floor completely silent, baring the soft breathing of two humans and the sound of an active Rasengan.

Moments passed and the sound of the Rasengan also faded away.

"How do you know that?" His voice was not loud. It was an almost silent growl that, had it not been for the absolute silence of their surroundings, it would have gone unnoticed.

His hands were fisted by his side, his head tilted down, his eyes hidden in shadows.

"Jiraiya-sensei taught me."

"You have NO RIGHT!" The silence shattered. The silver haired ninja glared at his mission partner. "Absolutely _no right_ to know that technique, and even less right to incorporate it into your personal fighting style like it _belongs_ to you. Have you no shame?"

Natsumi drew back "I..." She didn't quite know how to respond...

"You!..." Kakashi was shaking with rage. He started pacing, his hands in his hair. Natsumi had never seen the older Kakashi act like this... Sure, she had seen him mad, but he acted differently from this when he was older, much more collected as he was probably a lot better at controlling his anger.

"I can't, I can't even fathom how you could possibly think that it would be _OK _for you to use it!? How could you _possibly ..."_

Kakashi snapped his mouth shut. With a final glare he turned his back on the time-traveler.

"I have first watch." He mumbled before disappearing into the high branches of the many trees surrounding the camp fire.

* * *

Kakashi looked up at the night sky as he kept watch. He was sitting in a relaxed position, leaning back with his palms on the rough bark of one of the higher branches of the tallest tree he could find, his elbows locked in order to support his weight. In truth it was a good thing there was no one in the nearby location planning on attacking the divided team. The silver haired ninja, for all his brilliance, was too absorbed in his thoughts to notice anyone sneaking up on him. It was also a good thing no one tried to attack the brooding ninja as they would, most likely, have had to deal with being Kakashi's punching bag.

A deep frown marred the Copy-Ninja's brow. '_How dare she use it so blatantly!?... How dare she even know it?'_

_'Ne, Kakashi..'_

_'Shut up, Obito'_

_' Teme! That is no way to treat a dead friend.'_

Kakashi sighed. He knew he had issues, and that he was in no way mentally healthy, having mental conversations with a dead team mate. But all ninja eventually end up being a bit crazy. One's psyche simply can't handle the day to day stresses of shinobi life, at some point you crack and you simply have to deal with it. To him, Obito was a bit like his conscious that had manifested itself into the form of his old friend. They often had mental conversations, sometimes at the memorial stone, sometimes while he was reading his porn but mostly when he was angry or conflicted. They would debate whatever was going on just like he would imagine he would have argued with Obito, had the Uchiha still been alive.

_'Go away, I am not in the mood.'_ Kakashi snarled, but just like his former team mate, the mental figure of Obito remained. The Uchiha tilted his head in curiosity, ignoring the hostility in Kakashi's voice.

_'Is it because the red-haired chick can use sensei's technique?'_

Kakashi's grip on the tree tightened, splintering the bark. His mouth set in a grimace, eyes shut tight.

_'Ne, Kakashi...' _Obito continued after a while when it was clear that Kakashi was not going to say a word.

'_What!?'_

_'You can do the Rasengan too..'_

Kakashi glared angrily at the Uchiha. _'She does not have the right!'_ The mentally cracked ninja mentally bellowed at his conscious. _'Sensei taught me the technique himself. Besides, I never use it...'_

_'Teme!'_ The Uchiha roared, pointing an accusational finger at Kakashi. _'The only reason you don't use it is because you don't have the chakra for it!'_

Kakashi tried to ignore him, returning to his star gazing. _'Even if I did have the Chakra, I wouldn't use it.' _He said eventually, his voice calm and collected.

'_I don't believe you Teme.'_

Kakashi palmed his face. "Go away Obito." He murmured to himself out loud, the picture of a defeated man that can hardly win a fight with his own mind.

_'Fine...' _Obito turned to walk away, fading as he did_ 'It's time to swap shifts anyway... you better go wake her.'_

Kakashi sighed, pushing himself into a standing position and dusting himself off. He was still frowning, his shoulders slumped like usual, his eye half lidded like always. However, in that moment, he did not look like the lazy, laid-back, cool man he usually portrayed... He simply looked broken.

* * *

The smell of freshly cut grass was the first thing he noticed, the sound of birds chirping was the second. There was a soft breeze on his face as he opened his eyes to reveal a brilliantly blue sky. Slowly he pushed himself into a sitting position. There was grass all around him, softly moving with the wind. He was in an old Konoha training ground, the one they always used as a team when he was younger.

It was common for Kakashi to dream of this training ground, often he would watch the younger him and his team mates train while Minato-sensei gave them helpful hints. It was nostalgic, but it was still some of his favorite dreams to have. They were all still there, still alive and breathing. Still relatively happy.

This time the dream was a bit different. Kakashi could only see Minato, training off in the distance. Kakashi walked toward the blond man slowly, taking in the scene.

"Sensei?"

He had never been able to talk to his team members while dreaming, only been able to look from afar, but he always tried, just because. Therefore, Kakashi did not expect the blond to stop what he was doing and look him straight in the eye, a bright smile lighting up his blue eyes.

"Yo! Kakashi!" The man greeted him brightly.

"Sensei..." Kakashi was lost for words, so many times he had wanted to talk to his adopted father figure, but now he had no idea what to say. "What are you doing here?"

"Huh?" Minato looked confused at the question, his head tilted slightly. Then he smiled brightly again, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly "Well, Kashi-kun, I am trying to create this super awesome new technique."

"Oh? Really?" Kakashi remembered this. It was more of a memory than a dream. He had once walked into Minato trying to create the Rasengan and this was almost exactly like that time.

"Yeah!" The blond man's face lit up again as he explained the technique. "I got the idea from the tailed beasts... Amazing creatures they are, so powerful. I am trying to re-create the sphere like bomb they use, condensing my chakra into a small area is key to this..." The man used his hands to describe the size he was aiming for, " I think adding rotation might help stabilize it as well as add destructive power to it..." He had a small frown on his brow, but his blue eyes sparkled with determination and excitement. Creating a new technique was one of the best challenges Minato-sensei had always enjoyed.

"Oh... What are you going to call it?"

"What am I going to call it?..." Minato Seemed completely thrown by the question, just like he was over a decade ago.

It was the strangest thing to a young Kakashi. How could the man be creating a technique without knowing what he was going to call it? He later discovered for himself though, the naming part always comes last, like the icing on the cake, or the cherry on top of the icing.

" Hmm, haven't really thought of it..." Minato eventually answered, tapping his chin with his index finger in a contemplative stance. "How about 'The destructive ball of doom that spins?'"

Then again, Minato-sensei had always been horrible at naming things. One could only be thankful that Kushina-nee-san always convinced him to change the names he came up with to something more poetic.

Kakashi relaxed on the soft grass of the training grounds, watching as his sensei continued training . It went a lot faster in his dream than it had in real life. The blond was now almost finished with it, working on the final touches of the final stage.

"Ne... Sensei?" Kakashi once again interrupted the man.

"Hai, Kakashi-kun?"

Kakashi waited for a moment before replying, trying to find the right words. "How would you feel if an outsider used your technique?" This was not a part of the memory, He had never asked Minato this in real life. He was not sure how it would play out.

Minato looked a bit startled at the question. "Hmm..." He scratched his temple as he thought of an answer. " Well they would have to be pretty awesome to use it..."

"Won't you be mad?" Kakashi asked, shocked to not have gotten a more heated answer.

"Well, yeah, I suppose I would... Especially if they called it their own..."

Kakashi jumped up excitedly. "Exactly my point! She has no right!" Kakashi grinned. His sensei agreed with him, she should not be using the technique.

Moments passed and Minato continued practicing.

"Hmm...Ne, Kakashi..." He addressed his student, not stopping from what he was doing

"Hai, Sensei?" Kakashi replied, a happy smile hidden behind his mask.

"Isn't that exactly what you do every day with your sharingan, Mr Copy-Cat-Ninja?"

Kakashi's face dropped. "But...That's different!"

"Oh? How so?"

The silver haired student couldn't understand how his sensei could even ask. What he did and what Natsumi had done was worlds apart! He was not trampling on a hero's legacy! He did not take over a fallen comrade's most prized techniques.

"I only copy the enemy's jutsu." He explained earnestly. "It's completely different!"

Minato stopped what he was doing to give Kakashi a sad smile. "That's even worse, Kakashi-kun." He said softly whilst shaking his head gently, his eyes portraying a slight disappointment in his student. "Imagine how you would feel if Iwa used the Hiraishin."

"I..." Kakashi was too stunned to reply. This was not what he had expected, even though, in the back of his mind, within his deepest thoughts, if he was completely honest with himself... He disliked simply copying other people's techniques.

"Jutsu get copied all the time." Minato continued as he went back to perfecting the Rasengan. "That is the way our world works. This is why we must always strive to create new techniques and jutsu in order to surprise out enemies and get the upper hand, else our lives would be forfeit"

Kakashi had woken from his sleep not long after that. He didn't move or open his eyes, he simply laid in his sleeping bag thinking. His dream was obviously a sign that subconsciously he believes that he should not be too hard on the Uzumaki woman for stealing his Sensei's technique. He might even admit that there was a possibility that she did not actually steal it from Minato at all... Jiraiya-sama, her sensei and Minato-Sensei's sensei had taught it to her. Having been Minato's sensei himself, the toad sage did have some claim on Minato's abilities as an adult, but it did not mean he could freely give out his student's original techniques...

Natsumi was in the wrong for using the technique like she owned it, but the Toad sage was even more wrong for teaching it to her.

Then again, he was not completely without fault. He did what they had done every day... Even if he did it in order to protect the leaf.

It is most likely that they did not mean any harm with it. Natsumi had to learn to control her chakra fast at an age that made it difficult. The rasengan might have been the perfect tool to teach her Chakra manipulation.

Although, as a pure Uzumaki, her Chakra chains should have been an even better way to learn control. Why didn't Jiraiya focus on that instead?

Perhaps he should simply ask Jiraiya about it at a later stage. He was currently on an S-ranked mission. He would think about it again later.

Kakashi opened his eyes and packed up his camping gear. Natsumi's stuff was already packed up and ready to go. He rubbed his eyes with a sigh. They were going to have to get along for the rest of the mission at the very least.

With that Kakashi jumped into the trees to meet the red-head. He formed a rasengan without saying a word and let it fade back into silence.

It wasn't an apology but he acknowledged that she used the technique, just like he can use it if he wanted to. Essentially he gave her permission to use it in his presence if they were to encounter enemies, even if he had absolutely no right to claim he had the right to do so.

* * *

Kakashi took point as they raced through the trees. Tsunade was most likely in the next village. If they could get there soon and somehow convince her to return in a timely fashion, the mission would be over an he would have more time to think. Nature blurred around them as they traveled, a few splashes of colour every now and again breaking the uniform green. A startled squirrel, a black snake, a colourful bird, some yellow flowers, another snake. Kakashi had just started to wonder why in the world there were so many snakes around when he noticed Natsumi had bolted off in a random direction. He quickly applied some more chakra to his feet so that he would stick to the next branch he landed on. He carefully took note of his surroundings. There was nothing out of place. There were no enemies near by. He landed in a crouch silent as a lethal predator.

Why had his partner suddenly bolted off? Surely there had to be a reason... She was level headed enough to not simply attack every foreign nin they came across...

He headed back to where she had disappeared and sniffed the air for her scent before following it. As much as he would have liked to he could not finish this mission on his own, the whole reason they were partners was so that he could, quite literally, keep an eye on her... Another reason was because he was a Konoha shinobi and she was his partner. No matter the problems they had with one another, she was his team mate. He would never again leave a team mate behind.

She was a lot further ahead of him than he had initially expected. It became apparent that she could travel a lot faster than they had been traveling up until that point... Picking up speed Kakashi clicked his tongue they could have reached their destination by yesterday already if they had traveled like this...

Reluctantly he mentally readied himself for battle. He did not know what to expect at the end of the trail. There could be an enemy, this would be rather odd as they were not on a head-hunting mission and Konoha had strict rules in place when it came to hunting enemies.

There was the possibility that Natsumi had somehow sensed a Konoha team that was in trouble. In that situation there might be one or multiple enemies waiting for them with the possibility of injured or deceased comrades or comrades that have been taken hostage. This could potentially lead to a revenge driven fight if Natsumi had some kind of relationship with the victims involved. This had the potential to turn out very badly... the hot-headed Uzumaki might lose control of her emotions and as a jinchuuriki that could only be dangerous for everybody involved. In the worst situation Konoha might lose their jinchuuriki. This could be some sort of trap created by that Akatsuki group he had been briefed about.

Kakashi started going through the signs for a summoning.

Another option was that the supposed Uzumaki was making a run for it. She could still possibly be some sort of a spy. Deep down the silver haired man still did not trust his team mate.

This was a big possibility and he was not about to let the impostor get away with the amount of information she had on Konoha or Minato-sensei's son.

It only took a split second for the seasoned shinobi to pause on a tree trunk and smear some of his blood on the bark to complete the ritual before taking off again, this time being followed by a rather small, grumpy looking pug.

"Yo, Kakashi."

"Pakkun," The summoner replied, not even looking at his sumon but continuing on his path. "I need you to help me track my partner."

The pug gave the man a look that radiated annoyance. Seriously, Kakashi could track his teammate on his own, he had the skills for it... It was uncalled for to wake him from his morning nap for this. "That red haired female?" He asked, annoyance leaking into his voice. His summoner didn't act on it though, simply giving a sharp nod to signal the affirmative. He was quite serious about this... Perhaps he was a bit too quick to get annoyed with the man. "She is right up ahead."

The jounin gave another sharp nod to signal that he heard him. "How far?"

Pakkun took a long sniff, his eyes closed in concentration as he shifted through all the scents around him, focusong on the scent of the red-haired female, taking into acount how much it had faded already. This female is fast... her lack of scent is enough to prove that... she had hardly touched any of the surfaces around them... it was almost as if she had flown past the area in her haste... and that was not all.. there was something else here... another sniff confirmed the pug's suspiciouns. No wonder Kakashi had to find the female fast..."She is traveling quite a bit faster than you," he replied eventually, a much more serious look o his face, "but has almost caught up to her target."

"Target?" Kakashi looked at his companion with confusion written on his features... So his summoner had no idea what was going on... He had lost his touch.

"Hmm... I assumed you knew what your team mate was up to..." Pakkun replied, keeping his voice calm. "She is currently... hunting... her prey."

"Hunting?"

The pug almost smiled. It was almost comical to see Kakashi so confused, it happened very rarely for the man to not know what is going on around him. "Yea... Just like a fox." He replied with a small smirk, "It is actually quite amusing as her pray smells a lot like a snake."

Kakashi almost tripped over the next branch as his face paled. "Snake?"

"You need to get your nose checked if you cant smell the snake, Kakashi. But for your information, your partner is at this moment busy gaining ground on Orichimaru. She will catch up with him soon."

Kakashi kept silent for a moment, increasing his speed as he worked through the situation in his mind. "Is she definitely chasing him or could they be retreating together?" Could Natsumi be in league with the snake? He would kill her if she was.

"Oh she is most definitely chasing him." The pug replied in a matter of fact voice, leaving absolutely no room for doubt. So his partner was pursuing Konoha's number one most dangerous missing-nin... but why would she do that? She stood no chance against the man... even if she were to use the rasengan in her style... She couldn't beat Kakashi, so how could she possibly face Orichimaru?

"How long till she catches up with him?" He asked, his voice completely serious. He would have to get her out of the situation as fast as he could. He refused to let his team mate die, no matter who she was.

"Hmm... give me a sec..." The pug took a long sniff, his eyes closed again. "Now."

Kakashi swore. She already caught up with him... so he can't stop her from facing him at all... he could only hope he would get there in time to save her. "How long till we catch up?"

"At this pace? About ten minutes."

Kakashi swore again... He was going to lose another teammate... Minato-sensei's son was going to lose the woman he thinks of as his aunt... As much as he disliked the woman, she was needed in Konoha. He couldn't let her die without a fight.

* * *

**A.N.**

**What did you guys think? **

**Next chapter won't take as long as this one did.. I think I started this chapter about 5 times, before deleting everything and starting over.**

**Kind Regards**

**NK**


	12. Chapter 12

**I do not own Naruto... **

**Also, I have a lot of reasons as to why this is so late, but i think you guys are a lot more interested in reading the story than finding out about my issues so... enjoy :)**

**A BIG thank you to barefoot ranger for being an awesome beta :)**

* * *

Kakashi arrived at the battlefield approximately seven minutes later, having pushed himself to his top speed that could still be considered cautious. He had already passed broken branches, smears of blood, discarded kunai and multiple other signs of the intense battle, however nothing could have prepared him for the scene laid out in front of him.

His teammate, the one he had thought was pathetic at fighting, was currently going one-on-one with Orichimaru of the Sannin... and she had the advantage.

Both fighters were looking worse for wear, fighting at the bottom of a huge crater, covered in scrapes and bruises and absolutely exhausted. Ninja battles rarely ever dragged out this long. A ninja was meant to strike quick and fast, the fighter with the lower level of skill and experience lost within the first few strikes. Yet these two had been fighting for more than seven minutes already, throwing lethal attacks at each other like it was nothing. It was not natural... This was at the level Kage fought.

As much as he would have liked to, he knew he could not interfere... he would simply be a distraction for the red-head. Kakashi grated his teeth at the thought... Had she been holding back on him this whole time?

Natsumi was currently covered in golden flames, her eyes red with pupils in the form of a cross. There was no finesse in her attacks... Kakashi was leaning toward calling it brawling...like she had no control over what she was doing but simply attacking in a blind rage. The only reason she was not already dead was because she seemed to be healing from every wound Orichimaru inflicted within seconds. However, even in the few seconds that Kakashi had been observing he could already tell her healing rate was slowing down. There was only so much her bijuu could cure her of.

Natsumi dodged a cluster of diamond hard earth spikes with an elegant back-flip, landing on only one of her hands, using the other to fling some wind chakra enhanced kunai at her opponent. The snake of a man dodged with ease, a smirk forming on his face.

This did not bode well, when the snake-sannin looked like that he usually had a plan. Natsumi clicked her tongue with annoyance. The traitor spit a ball of white-hot flames at the jinchuuriki who was still in the air from the last half of her back-flips.

Kakashi sucked in a breath as his partner got caught in the flames, her own eyes widening slightly in surprise. There were no screams of pain however as Natsumi rushed out of the inferno a second later looking mostly unharmed, her clothes smoldering slightly. With a quick flick of her wrist she sent a wind slice at the snake sannin's legs. The snake jumped up, right into a waiting Natsumi-clone's path, her arms raised to the air to support a massive ball of chakra with wind blades spinning around it.

"Rasen Shuriken!"

Orichimaru was smashed into another huge crater. Kakashi watched in absolute horror as the dust cleared. The snake-freak was actually still alive, shedding his skin like the snake he was. Suddenly flipping through a number of familiar hand seals and then smashed his hands to the ground, summoning a number of huge demonic doors to shield himself from the dark chakra ball the original Natsumi shot at him.

A bijuu bomb.

His partner just flung a bijuu bomb at someone… and she had used an _elemental_ rasengan as a distraction to set it up.

Kakahshi looked at Natsumi just in time to see her eyes widen in shock and she readied herself to jump, but she was a fraction of a second too late as a huge snake suddenly emerged from the ground below her and swallowed her whole. Once again Kakashi sucked in a breath, jumping to the branch in front of him, ready to enter the fight to save his partner. It proved unneeded though as hundreds of angry red haired clones burst from the snake.

This was unreal.

All of that had happened in the span of twenty seven seconds.

How was he supposed to help her if he can't keep up with the fight she was involved in?

As the dust cleared again Orichimaru was nowhere to be seen. Natsumi's clones disappeared a second later. She looked like she was past her limit. Her orange chakra cloak flickered twice before it faded completely, leaving the jinchuuriki gasping for breath...

It was only Kakashi's jounin instinct that allowed him to dodge the sudden earth spikes aimed at him even though his feet were already half glued to the branch he was standing on with some kind of mud. He spun in the air and sliced at the pale snake man above him, his fangs bared and ready to strike. Kakahi's eyes widened as the man he sliced disappeared in a puff of smoke. The hairs at the back of his neck tingled as he realized the real version of what he had just destroyed was right behind him. He would not have enough time to dodge. He quickly moved to defend himself from the man's fangs. Suddenly Natsumi was between them, the kunai he had in his hand now in hers as she slashed at Orichimaru's neck, succeeding in decapitating him, while another red-headed clone behind him was shoving a miniature elemental rasengan into the man's back at point blank range, no doubt ripping his insides out as it rotated and expanded, but not before he stabbed his sword right through her abdomen. Blood leaked from the corners of the red head's mouth as she smirked.

"Regenerate from that, snake-freak." She chuckled.

Kakashi landed from his jump, taking in the sight of his partner. Her shoulders were slouched and her knees bent as she struggled to stay upright. Orichimaru's sword was sticking out of her from both sides. The hilt was just below her left ribs, angled in such a way that there was no way the blade could have missed her heart. And yet she was smiling, tears running down her blood stained face. Then her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she toppled off the branch they were standing on, falling to the ground below.

* * *

Kakashi managed to catch the red-headed sannin-slayer before she hit the ground, snatching her straight out of the air. There was no doubt about it, she really had just slayed the snake sannin, a feat that he could not manage all those years ago... heck even Jiraiya-sama had been unable to do it. The pale, headless corpse had hit the ground with an empty sounding thud just before he landed. He truly was dead. Not like all of those times that he had managed to respawn himself... There was no more snake Sannin...  
Kakashi shook himself out of his state of shock and started assessing his partner's wounds.  
"Shit..." he cursed out loud. It didn't look good. He could smell the faint acidic scent of poison around her stab wounds. It didn't help that Orichimaru's sword was still lodged deep inside the woman's chest, the angle of the hilt telling him that the blade hat pierced her heart... She was still alive though, even if only barely...  
Miraculously her eyes were still fluttering in and out of focus. She was still conscious.  
The Kyuubi must be working over-time trying to heal all of the wounds she had. He was unsure whether or not he should remove the blade, it could be the only thing that was keeping her from bleeding out.  
"Stay with me, Natsumi." His voice was serious, with a slight amount of desperation seeping in.  
He couldn't lose another team mate.  
Naruto couldn't lose his aunt so soon after finding her.  
If she died the Kyuubi might even break free.  
Kakashi found himself wishing he had the control needed for medical ninjutsu for the nth time in his life.  
The red-head focused on him for a second. "Sensei..." She whispered softly, her breath hitching slightly.  
Kakashi's worried gaze locked onto her deep blue eyes. "Why did you do that?"  
"You know me Sensei," She chuckled. It sounded incredibly painful. He had a feeling she had confused his silver hair with Jiraiya's white hair in her fevered state. "I will never let my comrades die." She continued, smiling a soft, pained smile, "Not again anyway, it's my nindo." Her voice faded out at the end. She had passed out almost before she finished her sentence.  
"Natsumi..." Kakashi slumped as he held her, closing his eyes as he thought of how to proceed.  
**"PULL THE KAMI-DAMNED SWORD OUT YOU SILVER HEADED WASTE OF SPACE!"  
**Kakashi's eyes snapped open as he jumped at the deep voice... Bright red eyes were staring back at him with annoyance.  
"Kyuubi!"  
"**Nooo... it's the shodaime's mother...**" the demon deadpanned. "**Of course it's me you stupid shit! Now pull the sword out so I can heal the girl. How the hell am I supposed to keep her alive with a sword through her heart!? And she told me you were intelligent! Just goes for show how absolutely useless you humans are. No common sense.**"  
Kakashi grabbed the hilt of the sword and pulled it out as fast but as gently as he could. Eyes wide as he scrambled to obey the nine tailed beast. There was a disturbingly slick sound as the blade cleared Natsumi's chest. Kakashi let the blade drop with a clatter as he watched red chakra spread from the wound with amazement. Then ice cold dread started to seep into his veins.  
"Are you breaking free?" He asked in a shaky whisper, his face paling quickly in fear, his eyes wide.  
" **No you moronic ape. Now bandage her wounds, I can't heal it all.**" The kyuubi replied, annoyance evident in it's deep voice.  
The red chakra was steadily fading but Natsumi was already looking better. Her face was not as pale, her chest was no longer bleeding very much at all. The silver-haired nin could see new skin growing over the entrance wound at an alarming rate. A few seconds later the wound was completely closed and the chakra was gone. He lifted Natsumi's shirt to check the seal. It was still intact, everything looked as it was supposed to...  
Kakashi numbly got all of the bandages from his pack and started dressing his partner's multiple wounds. The Kyuubi had not healed everything, just like it had said. Kakashi's mind was in a whirl of disjointed thoughts as he processed the fact that he had just spoken to the most powerful of the bijuu, and it had called him an idiot.  
He was not quite sure what to think.

* * *

Natsumi awoke to a world of pain. With a groan she tried to go through her memories as to how she had ended up in her current state.  
'_Orichimaru..._' The time traveler grunted as she pushed herself to a sitting position, her mind still fuzzy.  
Suddenly her eyes went wide, "Shit! Kakashi!" She yelled in a panic, struggling to remove herself from her blankets, her confused mind not bothering to try and calmly sense if the man was nearby, which would have been a great deal less painful for the woman.  
She stumbled out of the tent, half tripping over the blankets now bunched up around her ankles, only to get caught gently by the very man she was looking for.  
"Oh thank kami you are alive." she breathed a sigh of relief as she looked into the only eye Kakashi had visible. She quickly regained her balance and pushed herself away from the copy-nin as she made to straighten her rumpled clothes. She noticed bandages visible underneath her orange tank, which clearly had seen better days.  
"You should be sleeping, Natsu-chan" the man teased with an eye smile.  
_'Natsu-chan?_'  
"You dressed my wounds." She stated, not even blushing at the implications. As ninja, they hardly had the luxury that was modesty. Would you rather keep your modesty and bleed to death, or let your partner sneak a peak and save your life? Not a very difficult choice usually. Especially due to the fact that as ninja, they had the unfortunate fate of seeing a lot of nudity in any case. Often, the best time to hit the target was when they were vulnerable, such as during bathing or sleeping or... other activities.  
Dressing a partner's wounds hardly ever meant anything other than just that, wrapping a bandage over a wound, perhaps with some antibacterial salves to avoid infections.  
"It was necessary, the Kyuubi said it couldn't heal everything." Kakashi replied in a bored tone, already returning to his seat by the fire, which he had evidently just vacated to catch his clumsy partner.  
"He."  
"What?"  
Natsumi levelled her best glare at Kakashi. "Kyuubi is male. He is not an it."  
Silver eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You speak with it?". The sudden killing intent leaking from Natsumi convinced him to backtrack slightly. "...him?"  
"He is a dear friend of mine, Kakashi-san." The red-head replied coldly. "I suggest you give him the respect he is due. How would you like it if I called Pakkun an it?"  
"Pakkun didn't destroy the village." He shot back with steel in his voice. He, like so many others, hated Kurama for what had happened all those years ago. It was not completely unreasonable, after all, they believed he simply broke free and attacked because he felt like it.  
Well, even though that wasn't the case, she wouldn't have put it past him to try if circumstances had been different.  
**"HEY!**"  
_'Oh you know you would've enjoyed destroying the place if you thought you could do it without being sealed again.'  
_"**...Fine,**" Kurama huffed and rolled her eyes to look away from his jailors playful, accusational glare. "I suppose it would've been enjoyable. But I'm not that stupid."  
'_I know.'_Natsumi grinned, reaching up to pet his snout.  
"You have no idea what happened that night." Natsumi replied slowly and evenly. She was probably going to get in trouble with the Sandaime about this. "Kyuubi was being controlled. And even if he wasn't, it would be perfectly reasonable for him to be angry at the people keeping him a prisoner for decades on end, simply for existing."  
Kakashi lowered his book, his eye sharp and focused. "What do you mean controlled?"  
"I'll tell you what I know once we are back in the village. You can ask the Hokage for confirmation if you so please."... _'and I can actually get permission to tell you..._' She added silently in her head. Sarutobi was not going to be happy.  
The Jounin was silent for a moment before shrugging. "Very well." He let it drop for now, his tone changing to a more carefree one as he turned his focus back to his beloved literature. " So, why don't you tell me exactly how my cute partner managed to defeat the most powerful of the sannin, when she was having trouble sparring with little old me just a few days ago?"  
"I had no restrictions this time ..." She replied with a shrug. "My techniques are a bit too disruptive for the training grounds, and using Kurama's chakra would've caused panic, plus I wasn't sure how you would react to the rasengan..."

"I need to know what you are capable of if we are going to be working together."

She faltered at the look her masked partner gave her. Her excuses were flimsy and she knew it. "I promise we can have a proper spar once this mission is finished." That seemed to please the man as his eye went back to the pages of Itcha-Itcha.

"I'll hold you to it, Natsu-chan."  
"What's with the nick-name, Kashi-kun?"  
"Maa, if you are willing to take a sword for me then there is no reason for me to not accept you as my comrade..." He gave her an eye-smile and tilted his head slightly. "Is that a blush I see Natsu-chan? Don't worry, I kept my eye closed while bandaging you."  
"It's the fever baka... and you have two eyes bastard."  
"Would you look at that, It's a big day for Natsu-chan." Still smiling behind his mask the nin turned a page. "Killing a sannin and learning to count in the same 24 hours."  
"Pervert" Natsumi sighed and moved to return to the tent. She could use some more rest.  
"When will you be ready to travel?"  
"I should be fine by tomorrow." She replied after assessing the current state of her body and asking Kurama his opinion. "Kurama is just having some trouble with the poison."  
"Kurama?"  
"Kyuubi's name..."  
She was cut of by an angry growl and enough swearwords to make B blush.  
"Oh shut it you bastard fox. If you want people to be nice to you they need to know your name."  
Kakashi simply shot her an inquisitive look to explain her expression."Kurama does not think you are worthy of knowing his name yet." She replied with a wave of the hand, as if dismissing the tailed beast's annoyance. "He's pretty pissed at me for telling you."  
"Yet?"  
"He thinks you might have potential if you "shove that idiotic silver monkey ass into gear and screw that useless and moronic head on right.""

"Take it as a compliment"

* * *

About a month later the two jounin walk into a bar.

It was a bar like any other. Badly lit with a few people scattered around the various small, round tables. A few of the civilians gave them slightly suspicious looks. Natsumi even spotted one man subtly trying to hide whatever it was he had been busy selling with a forced calm expression.

"There she is." The red-headed jounin stated. She really could not care less about whatever the man was selling.

"Hn..." her partner replied with a shrug, his face stuck in an orange book.

Natsumi walked up to the slug princes that had been avoiding them for so long. It was painfully clear that the woman had been dodging them for the last couple of weeks. Every time they thought they had caught up to her it became apparent that the blond had skipped town in the dead of the night, not paying for whichever room she had rented.

It was rather annoying, Natsumi had much more important things to be doing than playing hide and seek with Tsunade. No matter how much she loved the Hokage Tsunade had become, she had been a selfish bitch for a long time.

"Tsunade-sama." Natsumi greeted politely as she reached the woman.

Tsunade was leaning on the bar, a bottle of sake cradled between her thin fingers. They looked deceptively delicate as they held onto the porcelain as if it were a lifeline.

"Finally caught up did you?" Tsunade rasped at her. Natsumi had not realized it when she was twelve, but Tsunade did not look good at this stage of her life. Even with the insanely powerful genjutsu hiding her true form, the woman looked tired.

Shizune was sitting beside her mentor, Ton-ton asleep on her lap. She didn't look too great either.

Natsumi bit back a sigh. Tsunade was so selfish at this point in time she did not even realize that her apprentice was just as depressed as she was. She would never leave Tsunade's side but it was clear that she was not happy at her current predicament.

"I would like to thank you for allowing us to catch up with you, Tsunade-sama." She replied politely with a slight bow, as was proper.

It was no lie. Tsunade had let them catch up with her. She had obviously grown tired of not being able to enjoy her usual activities but instead being forced to stay on the run.

"Cut the crap girly. What do you want?"

"My partner and I have been sent by the Sandaime Hokage-sama. He wishes for you to return to the village as soon as is possible."

"That is not going to be anytime soon red." The sannin snorted. "Now trotter of and go tell the senile old coot I'm not returning."

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune gasped in a small voice.

Natsumi was not a woman with a lot of patients. "Listen here, hag." She growled as she spun the stool around so that the woman faced her. Tsunade's eyes were dangerously narrow when they came into view. "I propose a wager." Natsumi continued, "I challenge you to an arm-wrestle. If you win, we will leave you alone. If I win, you return to Konoha."

There was silence in the bar. Everyone there had heard enough about what was going on to know that the blond was THE Senju Tsunade, rumored to be the strongest woman in the world. Arguably, challenging her to an arm wrestle was not the smartest idea.

"Ha!" The blond woman in question doubled up with laughter. "Are you stupid?"

Natshumi looked away as she replied with a small pout behind her scarf. "I have been told that I am not the sharpest Kunai in the pouch."

Tsunade threw her head back with a laugh. "Very well brat. Lets get this over with!" She chuckled, turning to face Natsumi with her arm ready.

"NOT IN MY BAR!" The bartender suddenly shouted from where he had been polishing glasses a few feet away.

With a grunt, the blond strutted out the bar with her drink in hand. Half of the bar followed her out, obviously interested in seeing how ninja arm-wrestle. It was not every day that they could see THE Tsunade demonstrate some of the strength she was famous for.

Kakashi gave Natsumi an uncertain look but let her pass him.

She had asked him to trust her in this, and he had reluctantly allowed her to have the first shot at getting the woman to join them. If that failed he would give Tsunade the scroll the Sandaime had given them. If Tsunade did not return she would be labeled a missing-nin.

Of course, that was not the ideal way to get the Medic to return. Tsunade might very well simply become a missin-nin. That would not bode well for Konoha at all. Two of the Sannin deserting the village? Definitely not good. But then again, Tsunade would be hunted down like an animal from all of the nations without having to fear any threat of war. She was the granddaughter of the Shodaime and the best medic-nin in the world. She would make an incredible asset to any village. She also had a fair amount of enemies. She would live on the run for the rest of her life.

The two kunoichi eventually arrived at a flat looking stone outside the small town the bar had been in. The two Kunoichi took up their places opposite the stone that would be serving as their table.

A civilian had volunteered to be their referee.

The poor man was shaking with excitement as he stood between them. Natsumi thought it was quite the miracle that he had not wet himself yet. That went for most of the crowd they had accumulated along the way. Natsumi shook her head with a sigh. People were even starting a betting pool.

Kakashi was standing to her right. He had even put his book away and lifted his headband to watch the match. No doubt to make sure Tsunade did not cheat.

Shizune was to the left of Tsunade, seemingly holding onto Ton-ton for comfort, biting her lip slightly.

Their ref cleared his throat and addressed the crowd in a dramatic voice,"Come one come all!" he was waving his arms as he spoke, no doubt trying to make himself seem more dramatic. "We are here-"

"Just start the damned match already!" Tsunade interrupted the man impatiently, leaking a slight amount of killing intent

"H-Hai" The poor civilian squeaked at the glare she gave him.

Natsumi and Tsunade griped each-others hands in preperation.

"R-ready?" Their referee stampeded, effectively having now been scared out of his strong, dramatic voice.

Chakra flared up around the blond. Tsunade's ponytails flapped in the wind, her expression smug. Natsumi smirked a foxy grin and went full Kyuubi mode, orange flames dancing around her. Her opponent's eyes narrowed, her perfect golden eye-brows almost touching as she frowned.

"GO!"

What followed would be retold in bars for years to come.

Tsunade used her insane strength and Natsumi used her incredible speed against it. Just as she remembered A to have defeated Tsunade in a similar occurrence once.

Natsumi gave no resistance to the first inch of movement, actually allowing some space between their hands, causing Tsunade to falter with slight confusion, losing some of her strength. Then Natsumi brought her hand back up with incredible speed, grasping Tsunade's small hand in her own she used her advantage and forced Tunade's arm back with so much force the rock shattered the moment the back of Tsunade's fist impacted the surface. The momentum of the action caused the blond to lose her balance.

When the dust cleared Tsunade was on the ground, the back of her hand touching a part of the shattered rock. Tsunade violently ripped her hand out of Natsumi's grip.

"You spoke to that ruffian didn't you?" She grumbled as she stood up and smoothed out her haori. Dusting herself off and making her way back to the bar, leaving a dumbstruck crowd behind them. Kakashi seemed to have placed a bet himself and was now collecting his winnings with one of his most condescending eye-smiles.

"I did not speak with A personally, but I did hear about it." Natsumi replied.

"I should have known there was something fishy going on. No one in their sane mind would arm wrestle against me unless they had something up their sleeves." Tsunade sighed as she massaged her temples with closed eyes. "I blame the alcohol."

Natsumi let the legendary medic lead them back to the bar, ignoring the way Shizune was now staring at her with disbelief.

* * *

It was a while later that they were both sitting at a bar, a different one on the other side of town where the news had not spread to yet, sharing a bottle of sake.

"Who are you?" The blond kunoichi eventually asked. "I recognize the Hatake brat but I have never heard of you."

Natsumi lowered her scarf slowly, allowing Tsunade to see her full face for the first time as she took a long swig straight from the bottle. She put the porcelain bottle back on the bar before placing something in front of her drinking partner.

The blond instantly brought her hand to her chest.

Natsumi could just imagine the confusion she must be feeling. After all, there was only one such a necklace in existence, and Tsunade currently had it securely around her own neck. Not to mention that the one on the bar had very obviously been shattered at one point.

Natsumi activated a small privacy jutsu around them so that it would sound like they were simply sharing some bar small-talk to any passerby.

The red-head closed her eyes and took a deep breath to steady her nerves. She opened her eyes to find Tsunade's confused brown staring back at her. She squared her shoulders and sharpened her gaze.

"It's a bit of a long story, and I am not the best at explaining this so bear with me...My name used to be Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, Toad Sage and Rokudaime Hokage of Konoha."


	13. Chapter 13

To state that Shizune was surprised when her mentor decided to honor the deal and actually return to Konoha was an understatement. She had expected herself and Tsunade-sama to sneak away in the dead of the night but instead, here they were.

It was just before the sunrise of what promised to be a beautiful day. The skies were clear, the air was crisp, the birds were chirping and the faint scent of dew was still fresh in the slight breeze.

Shizune secured her backpack, keeping her head tilted slightly downward to hide the confusion that was clearly showing in her eyes as she tried to make sense of it all. Tsunade-sama had been normal until she left for that afternoon drink, after that something was different. She had returned to their hotel room and simply ordered Shizune to be ready to leave for Konoha at first light. Something was not quite right… The Sannin had seemed rattled and unfocused. Shizune had not seen her like that since her uncle had died, so uncertain, afraid, troubled...

The brunette med-nin shifted her gaze to the red-headed kunoichi that had beaten her master in an arm wrestle the day before. She was sure the woman had something to do with this. Not only did she have the skill to beat THE Tsunade of the Sannin in an arm wrestle but the two seemed to have formed a bond overnight. Even now, as the four ninja prepared to leave for the long journey, the blond and the red-headed kunoichi were having a casual conversation while Tsunade-sama clutched at her necklace.

"Let's go." Kakashi interrupted her thoughts, her dark eyes shifted to study him instead as they all started running and the landscape turned into a blur.

Hatake Kakashi. She remembered him from their childhood days. He grew up handsome and strong, just like everyone thought that he would.

He was still an absolute ass though, and now he even read porn in broad daylight. That was the problem with strong ninja, especially the ones that were child prodigies... they always end up a bit... odd.

Shizune understood that both his teammates died, followed by his sensei, all in the span of a year or two. That's enough to mess up anyone... Even Tsunade-sama was messed up from losing her brother and her lover soon after one another. At least he was only reading porn and not going on a killing spree like the young Uchiha from a few years ago... That was another kind of crazy. Perhaps Ninja were all just crazy in general. Perhaps she was a little crazy too and she just didn't realize it? She did have a pet pig after all...

* * *

Natsumi slowly sipped some water as the small group rested for a few minutes. They were making good time and should reach Konoha within the next week. The time-traveller wanted to sigh a breath of relief for managing to get Tsunade to return to Konoha earlier than before but there was still so much to get done. She wasn't too sure what the next phase of the plan was, perhaps she should have a meeting with the Sandaime and Shikaku the moment they got back. She knew Shikaku already had a strategy but what was it? Would the fact that she already killed Orichimaru change it? Would it change the time-line too greatly? Was Orichimaru still a part of Akatsuki at this point? Were they going to focus on Naruto earlier because a Konoha ninja killed one of their own? The snake had not been wearing a cloak though... What was he busy doing when she stumbled onto him anyway?

"You should tell the Hatake brat."

Natsumi's thoughts were interrupted as her past hokage's look-alike sat down next to her, also sipping water from a canteen, casually activating a slight sound distortion seal to hide their conversation from the rest of the team. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the activation of the seal but continued reading his porn a second later. He still didn't trust her, nor did he trust Tsunade or Shizune. Too bad, she didn't really like him that much either.

"He doesn't need to know." She replied casually. He didn't actually need to know after all.

"Cut the crap brat." Tsunade clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Just because you had feelings for your version of the man..."

The poor red-head had been taking a sip of water at the wrong moment and after a fair amount of spluttering and coughing eventually regained her voice. "WHAT!?" She squawked, loud enough for the seal to not cover up the sound, which caused both Kakashi and Shizune to look at them oddly. Kakashi once again raising one god-damned eyebrow while signing that they would be leaving again in 2 minutes.

"...What?" Tsunade raised a delicate eyebrow, a teasing glint in her eyes. "You don't think I could notice the way you spoke about your sensei? It's not that hard to figure out brat."

Natsumi leveled her best death-stare at the woman next to her. "I still don't see why he needs to know, the less people that know about this the better."

"His best childhood friend is alive, he deserves to know."

The time-traveller scoffed as she got to her feet, shaking out her legs, "That man also started the war that killed everyone, Kakashi included."

"He will find out eventually..."

"He won't." Both Natsumi and Tsunade were irritable at this point, neither of the women were known for their patience after all.

"The man is not stupid," Tsunade glowered, "he already knows you are hiding something big. He _is_ involved in whats going to happen to whether you like it or not, he needs to be prepared." Tsunade stepped on the seal, twisting her foot to tear it. With one last famous and infuriating Tsunade-glare the blond walked off to join her apprentice a few meters away.

Natsumi kicked the tree next to her with a small scream of frustration. The woman was maddening.

"Let's go," Kakashi suddenly spoke up, snapping his book closed and giving her an eye smile "before Natsu-chan destroys the forest."

Say what you want about the man, he could take a death stare accompanied with multiple death threats from an infuriated jinchuuriki and still keep smiling.

* * *

Tsunade would never admit that her heart was uncomfortably tight when she saw the tears in her sensei's eyes as he processed that his student had been killed by one of his own ninja. Orichimaru was a vile man, but sensei still remembered the child he had been. Tsunade was remembering the good times they had as a team herself as well. Orichimaru the man deserved to die, but Orichimaru the child did not deserve to turn out the way he did... perhaps if she and Jiraiya were better teammates things would have been different..

"I see." Hiruzen whispered, looking down at the black scroll containing the body of a man he considered as one of his own children once upon a time. "We will need to perform an autopsy. " His hazel eyes looked at his other student expectantly, "Tsunade-chan..."

"Shizune is qualified to handle something like this." She interrupted him.

"Ah, very well. Shizune my dear, if you would please help the other med-nin preform the autopsy as soon as possible."

"I will get started as soon as this meeting is dismissed, Hokage-sama."

"Thank you my child, you have grown into a strong and capable young kunoichi."

Shizune gave a low bow as she replied in a small voice, "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

"Very well." The aged village leader continued, "Good job on completing your mission successfully Natsumi-chan, Kakashi-kun. Thank you for returning to the village Tsunade my dear, we have much to discuss regarding the hospital and future plans involving the academy but for now I believe you all deserve a rest. Dismissed." The small group of ninja left their Hokage to deal with the emotional news he had just received, each heading in a different direction. Kakashi had vanished the moment the Sandaime uttered the word 'dismissed', Tsunade headed toward her old clan grounds while Shizune headed towards the hospital and Natsumi headed towards the academy.

The final bell rang just as Natsumi arrived at the academy. Children spilled from the doors, heavy bags on their backs and exhausted expressions on their faces. Even Naruto looked slightly exhausted when she first caught sight of him. Natsumi knew the curriculum changed but perhaps the change was a bit too strenuous on the children.

The young blond had a slightly downtrodden expression on his face as he half-heartedly argued with Sasuke about something-or-other. He caught sight of her pretty quickly though, his eyes widening with surprise before he ran over to her excitedly, leaving a slightly confused Uchiha heir behind.

"NATSUMI-BACHAN!" the excited little jinchuuriki yelled out, loud as ever, attracting the attention of his classmates. Sasuke gave her his best glare, filled with so much hate and contempt that Natsumi was actually stunned for a second. She had not even met this Sasuke yet, how could he possibly hate her already? Shikamaru seemed a bit surprised, but had a sharp gleam in his eyes as he studied her. Great.., an interested Shikamaru was just going to lead to him finding out something he shouldn't...

Natsumi didn't have time to see any of the other doubles of her past before her own blond counterpart barreled into her.

"YOU'RE BACK!"

The red-head couldn't help but chuckle a bit at his excitement, "Lower your voice brat, I hardly think the rest of the village cares."

"I wouldn't be so sure, Uzumaki-san." an angry voice answered. Natsumi looked up to see a fuming Umino Iruka.

"Uhh..." Natsumi never could handle it when Iruka-sensei was mad at her, and he was definitely mad at her. He had that angry frown, hands on his hips, thin lipped expression that haunted her nightmares when she was younger.

"Uzumaki-san, do you even realize what I have had to deal with these last few weeks after you ENCOURAGED YOUR NEPHEW TO UP HIS PRANKING LEVEL!?"

* * *

"But you said I should prank people!" Naruto pouted, arms crossed and brow furrowed. "Why do I need to do punishment training told you Shikamaru started it. He suggested that we do all three of our teaching skills at the same time..."

Natsumi smiled as she stretched out, getting ready to put her poor nephew through the training session of a lifetime. "Oh honey, I'm not punishing you for the pranking." She chuckled slightly before continuing with a slightly sadistic eye-smile. "I'm punishing you for getting caught. Besides, you didn't get caught when you followed Shikamaru-kun's plan, you got caught afterwards, meaning you didn't learn anything."

The small blond gaped at his aunt. "I ALREADY HAD TO DO DETENTION! TWICE!"

Naruto would never admit that the soft sadistic chuckle his aunt replied with sent shivers down his spine and caused the little hairs at the back of his neck to stand right up.

"Good motivation to not get caught again, ne?"

The poor budding prankster's face paled rapidly at the sound of his only family member's voice. Two things were certain. Firstly, his aunt was scary when she wanted to be. Secondly, he was going to plan his next pranks in so much detail that there was no way anyone could ever catch him again.

* * *

Kakashi watched his teammate train her nephew from a safe and relaxing vantage point in one of the trees surrounding the training ground. He had to admit that so far it had been quite entertaining to watch the red head pound her blond relative into the ground with training. If this was what having a genin to train was like then perhaps becoming a jounin-sensei had its advantages. He could just imagine the sadistic training possibilities.

Kakashi's eye crinkled in amusement for the n'th time that day when the blond brat finally collapsed in exhaustion and promised his aunt, with utmost sincerity, that he would never, ever get caught pranking again. Snapping his book shut he decided to make his appearance.

"Yo." the silver nin greeted as he appeared in a whirlwind of leaves and dust. His posture the lazy slouch he had spent years perfecting.

"Yo." The red-head replied with a mock salute. "Enjoy the show?"

"Very much so," he drawled as he looked over to the victim of the day. "It was very entertaining."

The blond in question sent him a glare that he probably thought was terribly frightening, but as exhausted as the poor child was it turned out to be more adorable than anything else.

Natsumi giggled at the sight. "So, what do you want?"

Kakashi eye smiled at the female Uzumaki, "I came for that spar you promised, Natsu-chan."

"Ah, well we would have to make some arrangements for that... wouldn't want the village to panic.." "Natsumi sighed, this was just so troublesome "I'll talk to Hokage-sama about it when I can."

"I`ve already spoken with him. It`s been arranged for tomorrow at noon" The silver haired shinobi eye-smiled, "Well then, I'll leave you to torturing your nephew in peace… Don`t be late." He said in a sickly sweet voice before disappearing in a twirl of leaves.

"Who was that guy?" An annoyed and exhausted Naruto huffed from his eagle-spread position on the grass.

"He's my teammate." Natsumi groaned in annoyance

The blond huffed again as he tried to make it to his feet, knees shaking slightly. "Why are you going to spar him? His hair is weird." Somehow, the blond had determined that someone with hair that weird was probably weird themselves and probably not worth fighting.

Natsumi's eyes crinkled a bit as she replied, "Yeah... It does look a bit funny doesn't it?" She always pestered the man about his grey...'_silver'_ hair, it was good to see that her counterpart would probably do the same. "He's a really good ninja though."

"Stronger than you?"

The older Uzumaki paused to think about it a bit. Kakashi was definitely not someone to mess with.

"I guess we will see tomorrow." She finally replied.

It was at this point when Naruto realized he had the opportunity to see his aunt actually fight someone. His face lit up with a brilliant smile, stars dancing in his eyes.

"BACHAN! CAN I WATCH!? ARE YOU GOING TO KICK HIS ASS? CAN I WATCH YOU KICK HIS ASS? CAN I? CAN I PLEASE!?"

"You have school tomorrow, Naruto."

"BUT BACHAN…! PLEASE?!"

Natsumi ruffled her nephews hair gently, "Naruto, this is the kind of fight that might not be safe for people to watch. It will be dangerous to be around us."

"Please Bachan."

_'__Note to self, Naruto has definitely mastered the puppy do look.'_Natsumi sighed, face-palming at her own weak spot for that look._ "_I'll talk to the Hokage about it, but I can make no promises. This is going to be a dangerous fight."

"YATTA!"

* * *

The two Uzumaki's eventually made their way to their favorite ramen stand. Naruto's stomach had started complaining about the work-out and Natsumi had been waiting for an excuse to eat some of the delicious noodles.

"OJISAN! I'M STARVING!...OW!" Naruto had stormed into the small ramen stand, loudly yelling at the old ramen chef in a manner that he thought was a friendly greeting, only to be smacked on the back of his head by his aunt who had caused him to be so hungry in the first place.

The blond turned his hurt and accusing blue eyes to meet the very same shade of blue that was his aunt's eyes. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR OBACHAN!? OW!"

"OI! No need to yell, Nephew." His strange head-smacking aunt replied in a cheerful but stern voice. "Ichiraku-san can hear you well enough. Also, that is no way to greet people... Do it again."

"Do what again?"

"Greet Ichiraku-san properly."

"BUT..." The red-head Uzumaki raised her hand in a threatening manner, promising another annoying slap to the back of his head if he did not do as she said... also she had a scary look in her eye that made Naruto backtrack pretty quickly.

"Good afternoon, Ichiraku-ojisan, Ayame-chan..."

"Well done." Naruto got his hair mused for his efforts, his aunt smiling at him with a strange twinkle in her blue eyes, like she was laughing at him or something.

The Ichirakus were both almost tearing up with laughter at this point. "Good afternoon Naruto-kun."Ayame replied with a chuckle, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"It's good to see you again, Natsumi-san. Naruto-kun here ate all of the vegetables we gave him while you were away, like a good little ninja-in-training." Once again the blond Uzumaki's hair got mused, this time by the chef's daughter.

With all the adults chuckling Naruto felt his face turning red. He just wanted to greet his aunt but then got punishment training, then he just wanted some noodles but instead everyone is laughing at him. The poor blond was muttering to himself as he reached for some chopsticks and waited for the Ramen chef to finish up his order.

A few minutes later a steaming bowl of deliciousness was pushed in front of him, the old ramen chef smiling at him kindly. "Don't take it so seriously, Naruto-kun." He said in a quiet voice, wiping his hands with a wet towel. "We aren't making fun of you my boy, this is simply what it's like to have a family... Getting taught manners and being teased is all just a part of it all... It means we care about you."

The rest of the evening was spent in a similar manner with everyone teasing one another, Naruto even got to tease his aunt in retaliation for the training and hair musing he had to go through. Soon enough it was time to head home and go to bed. The small families said their goodbyes and just like that, Naruto and Natsumi were walking down the road in a comfortable silence, tummies full with delicious ramen and content smiles on their faces.

"I'm proud of you, you know." Natsumi broke the silence with a gentle voice.

Naruto looked up at her, only to see her face lifted up so she could look at the stars as they walked. His heart feeling really big, like it was about to explode... but in a good way.

"Really?"

Bright blue eyes met his own, his aunt pulled down her scarf as she crouched down so that their eyes were level and smiled at him with a kind of smile no one had ever directed towards him. "You have grown a lot while I was away, Naruto, and I am incredibly proud of you. So proud of you, that I think you might be ready for some more advanced techniques. "

"REALLY!?" The young junchuuriki could not keep his excitement contained, he was bouncing on the spot with a grin so wide it was threatening to split his face in two. A slightly playful glare from his aunt had him calm down a bit though.

"... Uh...Sorry... I mean, _really_?"

"Tell me nephew, how do you feel about being able to walk on walls and water?"

If anyone were to look in the direction of the small Uzumaki family they would witness two identical grins, the kind of grins that promised trouble in the near future.

* * *

**SORRY!**

**I ****apologize****for the long wait... Like seriously, I really am sorry. RL stuff happened... (I even live in Japan now \\(0_0)/ )**

**OK, HERES THE IMPORTANT PART**

**What would you like for to happen in the fight? I already have a plan, it involves an uninvited visitor dropping by in the middle of the fight. (10 points to the people who could guess who this would be) What would you like to see happen though?**

**Also, how should Itachi be made a part of this fic? He is one of my fav. characters but would you like him to become a more active part in this? Come back to the village or remain the spy-hero that he is.**

**ALSO **

**I need a new Beta... anyone interested in helping me with editing stuff?**

**LOTS OF LOVE AND APOLOGIES**

**NK**


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